Develop, test and validate all types of commercial vehicles with TruckMaker
Commercial vehicles, continuous efficiency improvements, and e-mobility have been gaining importance more than ever. Many cities are already planning to introduce electric and fully automated bus lines. The only way to ensure that vehicles are able to react quickly to hazards in urban environments while vehicle development is progressing is the use of virtual test driving.
This is where our TruckMaker simulation environment comes in, offering an end-to-end solution. With our tools, services, and expertise, we bring pioneering concepts safely onto the road.
What application areas are you interested in?
Autonomous vehicles
Daily challenges in autonomous vehicle development
- Conducting tests before a physical prototype is available
- Systematic coverage of ODD in a controlled and safe environment
- Ensuring a robust perception of the environment
- Guaranteeing that modules for movement planning and control are functional
- Continuous integration and testing pipelines (CI/CT) for speedy provision of test results after changing code
How we can help
- Premium simulation software (TruckMaker) for virtual development and testing of commercial vehicle fleets
- Detailed simulation models of vehicle dynamics for the realistic movement of suspension and sensors
- Powerful and detailed physical sensor models for simulating complete sensor sets
- Turnkey test systems and hardware for end-to-end testing of target platforms
- Industry-leading engineering services and expertise: Overcome simulation-related challenges together
- Consultation and training: knowledge transfer for integrating simulation best practices into development processes
ADAS
How we can help
- Premium simulation software (TruckMaker) for virtual development and early-stage testing of trucks
- Turnkey test systems and hardware for system validation
- Comprehensive portfolio of ADAS scenarios for a quick start
- Industry-leading engineering services and expertise: Overcome simulation-related challenges together
- Over 15 years of experience in virtual homologation of commercial vehicle applications
- Consultation and training: knowledge transfer for integrating simulation best practices into development processes
Daily challenges in ADAS development
- Achieving high scores in future NCAP ratings for trucks
- Homologation-related ADAS tests in compliance with EU General Safety Regulation (GSR)
- Saving costs and time in development and testing
- Conducting tests before a physical prototype is available
- Real-world tests involving trucks are associated with a higher level of complexity and higher costs (e.g. for the proving ground)
- Requires testing a variety of vehicle and trailer configurations
- Validating the design of multiple sensor configurations (technology, field of vision, positioning)
- Effective system integration and collaboration with third-party providers
Powertrain and electric mobility
Daily challenges in powertrain development
- Emission regulations determine development
- Total cost of ownership as the key driver for achieving maximum efficiency at low costs
- Simulation-based development processes are indispensable for quick and efficient optimization
- Temperatures, road users and road conditions vary, making test processes hard to reproduce and optimize
How we can help
- Simulation eliminates dependencies on real-world testing
- Virtual powertrain prototypes offer an efficient way to optimize
- High flexibility, allowing the integration of custom battery or fuel cell models
- Tests with real map data and reproducible environmental, traffic and road conditions
- Optimization steps and adjustments can be tracked at any time
Vehicle dynamics
How we can help
- TruckMaker provides highly accurate vehicle dynamics models
- Models can be adjusted and refined during the development process
- Highly efficient, detailed and resource-saving analyses
Daily challenges in vehicle dynamics development
- The analysis of vehicle dynamics requires a physical development prototype – which is not available at the beginning of a project
- Real prototypes are expensive and in short supply, and require experienced test drivers
- Testing in a safe and controlled environment is difficult to achieve
- Real tests often require support wheels
Use Cases
Platooning in road freight transport: V2V communication for validating a model-predictive control concept
As road freight transport continues to increase, energy consumption and traffic density are rising. Platooning can improve safety and reduce fuel consumption by efficiently controlling the distance between vehicles. An intelligent control concept combines model-predictive control with vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Co-simulations with TruckMaker and a real-time capable driving simulator enable validation under realistic conditions.
End-to-end development processes for automated driving: Simulation, ODD and standardization
The approval of automated vehicles has been the topic of intense debate in recent years – particularly with regard to the validation of specific operational design domains (ODD). The potential for savings in the commercial vehicle sector is immense. This is where insights from the passenger car sector, such as from open tests, AI-generated scenarios and simulation-based validation come in. What is needed are transferable standards and credible simulations. End-to-end integration into development processes enables continuous and efficient validation.
Simulation-based position data analysis in the development of stable platooning functions
Platooning describes several trucks driving closely behind each other automatically to reduce fuel consumption. Error-free platooning depends on the individual vehicles’ position data and the stability of the convoy. This article illustrates how platooning algorithms can be efficiently developed and validated using simulation.
Real tire measurement in a virtual test drive: HIL coupling of GRIPS and TruckMaker
The new GRIPS tire test bench at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) combines real measurements with vehicle dynamics simulation. Drive, braking and steering processes are generated virtually and reproduced on the real-life tire via a hardware-in-the-loop coupling with TruckMaker. The forces and torques measured are immediately fed back into the simulation, allowing the analysis of tire behavior under realistic conditions, and the improvement of specific aspects of vehicle dynamics, efficiency and emissions.
