ANN ARBOR – VI-grade announced Tuesday that the MRacing
Formula SAE Team of the University of Michigan has adopted VI-DriveSim Static,
VI-grade’s driving simulation solution. The simulator will be used to support
chassis and controls development for formula SAE vehicles.
“We have already put in many hours on tuning our
VI-CarRealTime model, which creates a significant advantage as we move to the
next level: using VI-DriveSim,” said Peter Karkos, 2016 MRacing Technical
Director. “The main value from the adoption of VI-DriveSim Static in our team
comes from the potential time that will be saved through physical testing of
different suspension setups, aero packages, drivetrain packages, etc. In
addition, the relatively low-cost of setting up the system is perfect for our
situation of being a college race team.”
“The most important feature is our ability to quickly
correlate the computer model to our real-life vehicle by having a driver be
able to give immediate feedback. It can eliminate months of tedious tests, and
will allow for rapid improvements once we have an accurate model,” added Karkos.
“Additionally, VI-DriveSim Static enables our team to continue to develop the
vehicle and have drivers learn how to drive it during the off-season. Due to
the weather conditions, there are many months when our team cannot take the
vehicle out for testing, so it is crucial to be able to virtually optimize the
setup of our racing cars on the simulator in preparation for the upcoming FSAE
competitions.”
Brian Cheung, Director of VI-grade System Level Simulation,
said he was very excited about the continuous collaboration with U-M.
“Major racing teams in all series are using vehicle
simulation of all kinds to increase competitiveness in an environment with less
physical testing and demands for more performance, and we are looking forward
to further supporting the success of the MRacing team.”
