CarMaker
| File:IPG Automotive CarMaker Logo.jpg | |
| Developer(s) | IPG Automotive GmbH |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 9.1.1
|
| Engine | |
| Operating system | Linux, Windows |
| Available in | English, German |
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CarMaker is a software product developed by IPG Automotive GmbH that simulates test drives. The software is used mainly for vehicle and system development in the automotive industry. In addition to a development environment and appropriate models to recreate real test drives in the virtual world, CarMaker offers a variety of tools to parameterize, simulate, analyze and assess all model components.
Application areas for the software are advanced driver assistance systems, autonomous driving functions, powertrain and vehicle dynamics.
History
CarMaker was developed by IPG Automotive GmbH (formerly known as Ingenieurgemeinschaft Prof. Dr.-Ing. R. Gnadler GmbH). The company was founded in 1984 by the research assistants Alexander Schmidt and Andreas Riedel jointly with Professor Rolf Gnadler as a spin-off from the University of Karlsruhe, known today as Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). In the early years of the company, IPG Automotive focused on supporting project partners in matters relating to vehicle dynamics. The provided consultancy services resulted in the development of the vehicle dynamics simulation model IPG-CAR and the driver simulation model IPG-DRIVER. In 1999, both models were merged to create one software product sold under the name of CarMaker.
Usage
CarMaker is used predominantly in the automotive industry. The majority of users are automotive manufacturers (OEMs) and automotive suppliers (Tier1s) but there is a large number of clients in research and development as well, such as universities and research institutes. The software was developed to enable partial or complete modeling of real test drives in simulation. As a result, significant savings in time and costs are made and risk-free testing as well as an exact reproducibility of test drives become possible. The growing relevance of driver assistance systems and automated driving functions lead to a greater number of required test scenarios. This is why simulation is playing an increasingly important role in vehicle development[1].
Derivates
In addition to the CarMaker test environment, two derivatives are available: TruckMaker for heavy-duty vehicles and trucks as well as MotorcycleMaker to simulate motorcycles. The user interface and the operation of the derivatives do not differ from CarMaker, but the test environments are adapted to the respective development and testing requirements of the sectors.
Functionality
CarMaker uses a user-configurable vehicle model, the so-called virtual prototype[2], that is built of models of all vehicle subsystems. The open model interfaces allow for implementation of external subsystems from partners and suppliers for example. The interplay of the different subsystems can therefore be tested at a very early stage in the development process.
Entire real test scenarios can be reproduced by the user on the computer. The actions to be performed by the virtual driver are defined through commands or maneuvers. In order to test fail-safe mechanisms, defined events, for example reaching a specific position on the route, are able to trigger malfunctions, such as the failure of a specific component. Besides synthetic test cases, recorded data from a real test drive can be imported and played back in simulation.
In contrast to real test drives, virtual test drives are exactly reproducible. The maneuver carried out by the virtual driver, the behavior of road users, the environmental conditions etc. can be simulated just as with previous test drives. If specific settings of the vehicle need to be modified, the effects of these modifications can be traced thanks to identical conditions as in the previous test. The test engineer has full control over all functionality tests.
Features and product extensions
The product extension Test Manager enables automated and/or parallelized test drives after being configured by the user. There are different possibilities for parallelization, depending on the respective purpose and on the available hardware. Computers with multiple CPU cores and/or GPUs are able to complete parallel calculations. Within a network, multiple computers can be used simultaneously. For the highest possible performance, High Performance Computing (HPC) enables parallel calculation of a great number of processes, locally or using cloud services[3]
IPGMovie is a product extension that visualizes the simulated test drives. This enables the user to visually track the driving behavior of the vehicle through the obtained results after the simulation is completed as well as directly during the execution of the test drive. Testing advanced driver assistance systems, such as adaptive cruise control, becomes possible by using the image output from the simulation as input for the real sensors of the systems. In this case, the simulated environment appears to be the real one for the sensors.
The provided data analysis tool IPGContol allows to plot test results. If necessary, the parameters can be modified by the user. The data can be viewed during simulation as well as after the simulation is completed. The result data can then be exported into different data formats for further processing.
Instruments is an extension that provides access to all relevant instruments, scales and information on the driver behavior and the condition of the vehicle. Scripts allow for the instruments to be adapted individually.
Interfaces
The interface environment enables to connect numerous tools and real-time hardware platforms to CarMaker, facilitating the integration into already existing development processes. Moreover, CarMaker supports all common standards in the industry and comprises several converters.
License
The software is distributed via a license model. In addition to test licenses for a trial period of six weeks, commercial licenses as well as special “Formula CarMaker” licenses – a free license model designed specially for non-commercial Formula Student race teams – are available.
Weblinks
https://ipg-automotive.com/de/produkte-services/simulation-software/carmaker/
References
This article "CarMaker" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:CarMaker. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
- ↑ Winner, Herrmann; Hakuli, Stephan; Lotz, Felix; Singer, Christina (2015). Handbuch Fahrerassistenzsysteme Grundlagen (3rd ed.). Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden. p. 126-128. ISBN 978-3-658-05733-6. Search this book on
- ↑ Schmidt, Steffen; Frings, Alexander. "Systems Engineering mithilfe virtueller Prototypen". ATZ Automobiltechnische Zeitschrift (05/2018): 46–50.
- ↑ Schmidt, Steffen. "Gesamtfahrzeugsimulation auf High Performance Computern". ATZextra Automotive Engineering Partners (05/2018): 22–25.
