We use the MSC.ADAMS software package to model truck ride and handling issues. MSC.ADAMS is an industry standard that is used right across the automotive industry.
| A typical truck model contains hundreds of moving parts. A complex simulation can take up to three days to run on a twin-processor workstation but afterwards we can predict how variables like force and acceleration change as a function of time, at every point on the vehicle. This gives vital information to the people who design systems like the cab suspension, who need to know what force levels their components can expect to see in service. |  |
| With our models we can see how designs will perform long before physical prototypes have been built, or try potentially dangerous manoeuvres without putting real test drivers at risk. The picture on the right shows a vehicle in performing an ISO lane change manoeuvre (click for a movie file). Models are also be driven over a range of road surfaces, from smooth motorway to Belgian pave, to predict driver comfort levels. |