dSPACE Releases ASM Truck Simulation Model

By DE Editors

To improve the safety of commercial vehicles in road traffic, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UN/ECE) has introduced a new regulation (UN/ECE 13-H) that requires electronic stability systems to be installed in commercial vehicles from 2011 onward. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration already enacted a similar regulation in 2007, which states that all passenger cars with gross vehicle weight of 4.5 tons must be equipped with ESP from model year 2012. 

These regulations permit the use of simulation models to verify that the ESP systems function correctly. dSPACE's new simulation model, ASM Truck, provides the required for testing and validating ESP functions for directional stabilization and rollover protection.  

With virtual vehicle dynamics tests, testing activities can be moved from the road to the simulation system. This reduces the workload and costs involved in testing the number of different vehicle variants available in the commercial vehicle industry.  

ASM Truck is an open MATLAB/Simulink model that is used together with ASM Trailer to simulate a vehicle with a trailer. The models contain up to 35 degrees of freedom in the multibody dynamics and up to 25 in the powertrain. The entire vehicle model has up to eight steerable axles, which can have twin tires as an option.

ASM Truck also provides a solution that anticipates the next stage in the UN/ECE and NHTSA regulations, which will cover lane-keeping assistance and emergency braking. Developers can test these functionalities by simulation with a combination of ASM Truck and ASM Traffic, a simulation model for the traffic surrounding the test vehicle.  

For more information, visit dSPACE.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company's website.