METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR TESTING A VEHICLE DESIGN

• US 20110060557A1
• Filed: 09/08/2010
• Published: 03/10/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/09/2009
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Original Assignee: Ford Global Technologies, LLC (Ford Motor Company)
• Inventors: DE PASCA, GIOVANNI, QUERENGAESSER, JOERG, RICKERT, CLEMENS
• Application Number:
  US12/878,023
• Publication Number:
  US 20110060557A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 703/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/15 Vehicle, aircraft or watercraft design
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 30/20 Design optimisation, verification or simulation optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30
• CPC Class Codes: G09B 9/04 for teaching control of land vehicles

Abstract

A method and device for testing a vehicle design under predefined ambient conditions. A test driver is subjected to impressions of movement, which are generated as a function of the vehicle design and the ambient conditions, the vehicle design being present during the generation of the impressions of movement exclusively as a visual model, which is displayed to the test person.

Claims

1. A method for testing a vehicle design under predefined ambient conditions, the method comprising:

displaying the vehicle design as a virtual immersive visual model;

generating impressions of movement as a function of the vehicle design and the ambient conditions; and

subjecting a test person to the impressions of movement.

2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein displaying the vehicle design comprises displaying the visual model as a CAD representation of the vehicle design.

3. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein displaying the vehicle design comprises superimposing a figurative representation of the ambient conditions on the visual model.

4. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein displaying the vehicle design comprises synchronizing the visual model with the figurative representation of the ambient conditions.

5. The method as claimed in claim 3, wherein the superimposing step comprises superimposing based on a chroma-keying method.

6. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the ambient conditions are represented as at least one of a digital video file or a computer simulation.

7. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein testing of the vehicle design further comprises testing at least one driving assistance system.

8. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the movements of the test driver, in particular the movements of the finger of a hand or of both hands of the test driver, are followed by means of cameras or by means of gloves equipped with a corresponding sensor system.

9. The method as claimed in claim 8, wherein activations of operator control elements which are only represented in a virtual fashion in the visual model are detected on the basis of the movements of the test driver.

10. A device for testing a vehicle design comprising:

a driving simulator including operator control elements which are activated under predetermined ambient conditions in reaction to impressions of movement simulating a driving movement of the vehicle design,

a vehicle simulation apparatus for representing the vehicle design as digital data, and

a visualization apparatus, which generates a visual model for the vehicle design from these digital data and superimposes said visual model on a figurative representation of the ambient conditions in order to generate the impressions of movement.