U.K. Research Firm Unveils Virtual Vehicle Simulator

A £2 million ($3 million) R&D center featuring one of the world’s most advanced vehicle simulators opens in the U.K.

Ansible Motion’s new facility at the Hethel Engineering Center in Norfolk will be used to develop and showcase simulation technologies for testing and developing vehicles in a virtual environment.

It says it creates simulation tools that immerse drivers in such a compelling way they believe they are operating a real vehicle.

The new facility, 110 miles (176 km) northwest of London, centers on Ansible Motion’s new Delta-series simulator with a 6-degrees-of-freedom motion system and powered by 16 5GHz computers. It has five projectors offering a frame rate that is five times faster than a commercial projector, projecting a 240-degree wraparound view on a 0.3-in. (8-mm) screen.

The R&D Center also features a full control room to monitor up to 300 channels of data, separate viewing gallery and secure conference rooms.

Ansible Motion designs and builds “driver-in-the-loop” simulators it says automakers and motorsport engineers increasingly are using to develop and test vehicles.

The company focuses on advanced engineering-class simulators that can be used to validate vehicle-safety systems, sign off vehicle settings and in motorsport to define aerodynamic, gearbox and suspension settings and predict a lap time before creating a physical car.

“By working in a consistent virtual world, engineers can cut months from a vehicle test program with significant cost savings from being able to test road and weather conditions from anywhere on the planet in a laboratory setting,” the company says in  a statement.

Ansible Motion founder Kia Cammaerts says simulators such as the Delta series offer manufacturers a no-compromise method to reduce development costs and time.

“Using our simulator has cut the validation time from 10 days to just three for an electronic stability control program for one particular car maker,” Cammaerts says. “Apply those kinds of savings in cost and time across the whole car and it explains why we are now getting more and more enquiries from global OEMs to see what our simulator can do.”

Cammaerts says the growing demand for Ansible Motion’s simulator has been driven by the different approach it has taken to create its light and compact platform.

With a strong emphasis on getting the driver to engage in a realistic way with the simulator, Ansible Motion focuses on creating an immersive experience by embedding a model of the human vestibular system in the software and not using the usual hexapod machine architectures to ensure the most realistic vehicle motion.

“Experienced drivers feel the difference straight away when they drive this simulator,” Cammaerts says.

The company says rather than just tell people about how different its approach is, it decided to open the R&D center to visitors so they can actually experience it.