Mechanical Simulation Corporation Releases CarSim 8.0

By DE Editors

Mechanical Simulation Corporation has released CarSim 8.0 vehicle dynamics software.

“Automotive industry economic pressures require fewer engineers working more effectively to design, develop, and test vehicles in less time,” says Michael Sayers, Mechanical Simulation chief technology officer. “Simulation is essential for testing chassis components and advanced electronic controls, because there is simply not enough time or resources to physically test every possible combination.”

A new database feature in CarSim 8.0 allows users to exchange encrypted datasets with other companies. An OEM can provide a full CarSim vehicle description for a supplier to use in developing their component, without releasing proprietary engineering data about the vehicle. Likewise, a Tier 1 supplier can provide an encrypted future chassis system to a potential OEM customer.

CarSim 8 also includes improvements in math models. According to Sayers, “CarSim is now being used to test advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). This testing not only involves the dynamic behavior of a vehicle, but also how radar, lidar, and video sensors detect other traffic vehicles or objects such as pedestrians, parked cars, buildings, and so on. Advanced CarSim users have been simulating these systems before, but it required extra software.” Those capabilities are built into CarSim 8.

Other improvements include advanced powertrain dynamics, more details in the suspension, and support for new tire models. The representation of 3D road surfaces has been extended to support variable-width roads, such as lane merging or racetracks with wide curves. CarSim 8 also provides live runtime engineering data displays.

Engineers in design, development, testing, and advanced safety activities use CarSim for simulating the dynamic vehicle behavior of cars, light trucks, and utility vehicles. CarSim animates simulated tests and generates more than 700 output variables that can be plotted and analyzed.

For more information, visit Mechanical Simulation Corporation.

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