Roll-out of the advanced Vehicle Driving Simulator – A Great Success!

For months, our colleagues from the Adrive Living Lab at Kempten University of Applied Sciences prepared the big event. The novel Formula 1 driving simulator officially went into operation on 5 March at our partner for scientific research.

New technologies open up new paths of research. The Adrive Living Lab of the University of Applied Sciences in Kempten can expand its research activities in the future with a new advanced vehicle driving simulator (aVDS) from AB Dynamics and Williams Advanced Engineering. Bavarian Science Minister Bernd Sibler and Formula E Audi factory driver and surprise guest Daniel Abt were the first test drivers.

On March 5th, more than 100 invited guests from politics, business and science gathered in the laboratory halls of the Adrive Living Lab of the University of Applied Sciences Kempten for the roll-out of the new advanced vehicle driving simulator. With an impressive program,a  team of about 50 members of the Living Lab presented their new simulator to an interested audience.

Minister of Science Bernd Sibler emphasized: “Tomorrow’s mobility is one of the megatopics of our time. At UAS Kempten, our scientists are already finding answers to the questions of the future today. By researching and developing future mobility, to which the novel driving simulator will make an important contribution, they are providing important impulses for Kempten, the Allgäu and the whole of Bavaria”.

How do we manage to make new functions and technologies experienceable for people in a virtualized development and how do we build the bridge between simulation and the real driving experience? With the advanced Vehicle Driving Simulator (aVDS), the University of Applied Sciences Kempten has come a big step closer to its goals. The simulator will be used for the following applications in the context of automated driving for research and development engineers and test persons:

• Experience and evaluation of new driving functions and technologies
• Experiencing comfort and evaluating driving characteristics –> Making simulation tangible
• Human-machine interaction with regard to novel operating and display concepts
• Human factor: Studies for strain, stress, trust, acceptance due to new functions and technologies
• Vehicle optimization in the virtual development process
• Controllability studies in critical situations and due to potential system failure
• Test driver training for prototypes of automatically driving vehicles

The simulator features an unparalleled 6D motion system with exceptionally high dynamics and agility. It can therefore display vehicle dynamics situations in particular very realistically.

The aVDS was developed at Williams F1 and has been further developed and optimized by AB Dynamics for civil use. This novel simulator concept is the only one of its kind in Europe used for research and development of future mobility. In cooperation with AB Dynamics and other industrial partners from the automotive industry, these methods and applications will be developed and transferred to industry. The essential importance of such cooperations between universities and industry for the challenges of the future was emphasized by Prof. Dr. Pim van der Jagt, business representative and Technical Director of AB Dynamics.

Prof. Bernhard Schick, in his role as Head of the Adrive Living Lab, pointed out how essential human-centric research and user experience is for the future of mobility. As people hand over control to the vehicle, trust and the associated acceptance of technology play a central role. Ultimately, the success of automated driving is determined by customer acceptance, purchase decisions, the fulfillment of the user promise and their recommendation.

In realistic application scenarios, living and working spaces are created for test persons in the Adrive Living Lab to explore these issues – in the real test vehicle, Design Thinking Studio or, from now on, in the driving simulator. From this, new ideas such as new operating, display and communication concepts or specific vehicle movement and driving characteristics are developed to increase technology acceptance and bring it to the road. People are thus actively involved in shaping the new solutions.

The Minister of State was visibly thrilled after his drive on the Formula E Race Track through Paris. The event was broadcasted live on social media and can be found on the Youtube channel of the University of Applied Sciences Kempten.

On the following day, a Tech Day with over 100 experts from the automotive industry was also held there. Development methods were presented, discussed and experiences exchanged by means of technical presentations and guided tours. Numerous exhibitors presented new development tools. At the same time, many participants had the opportunity to take a test drive on the new driving simulator. And MdynamiX was part of the exhibition!