DRIVER-IN-THE-LOOP TESTING FOR VEHICLE AND MOBILITY TECHNOLOGIES, SYSTEMS AND DESIGNS – IN ADAS, AUTONOMOUS DRIVING, VEHICLE DYNAMICS, RIDE & COMFORT, HMI AND NVH
Cruden manufactures professional static and motion-based driving simulators and simulator software to suit all budgets, and specification. Our customers range from engineers running desktop vehicle simulations, first tier suppliers and small automotive departments, up to OEMs and research institutes specifying large Capex R&D simulator projects requiring significant customization.
We have a deep understanding of vehicle simulator applications, including ADAS/AD testing and driver research, vehicle dynamics, vehicle modeling, image generation, the 3D content and design process and hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) integration. Via our Panthera simulator software, our simulators work seamlessly with our customers’ own CAE tools.
See our brochure for more information on driving simulators engineering and research applications, including: vehicle dynamics; autonomous driving; ride & comfort; driver training; HMI; ADAS; autonomous driving; NVH; audio; and driver behaviour research.
Driving simulators for ADAS and AD testing
To engineer a car that feels safe, it is critical that engineers and researchers understand how to make the driver and passengers feel comfortable while traveling in a highly automated vehicle. Feedback from different types of people in multiple scenarios, throughout the development process, is key. There are simply no models for this and sufficient real-life testing is impossible. Driving simulators are the only way to develop future cars and systems within the necessary timeframes. By adding a driver-in-the-loop at the earliest possible stage of the development process, engineers can validate and make design choices sooner and with greater confidence, resulting in better designs, shorter development time, less cost building prototypes and reduced environmental impact. Moreover, the use of DIL simulators helps close the gap between subjective assessment using real vehicle prototypes and objective assessment using offline simulations. Our ePhyse open-architecture interface enables users of a Cruden simulator to work with their organisation’s existing CAE tools, including vehicle models, traffic simulation and sensor simulation, as well as with hardware test rigs.
ADAS AND AUTONOMOUS DRIVING (AD) TESTING
With a Cruden simulator and our Panthera open architecture simulator software, it is easy for engineers and researchers working in different departments to add a driver-in-the-loop simulator to their ADAS or AD development and validation toolchains, and to adapt to any future changes. The simulator system seamlessly interfaces with most CAE tools.
Panthera provides and manages the complete virtual environment through which the full vehicle, ECU, or powertrain model can be tested. For ADAS/AD controllers, for example, the ground truth sensor feed, V2V data stream for ego and traffic vehicles, realistic video streams for multi-function ADAS cameras and software development can be integrated into the DIL simulation. Through our Panthera ePhyse tool, conversion tools and integration work undertaken with the suppliers of commonly used third-party packages, we eliminate the need for complicated configuration work by our customers.

Cruden DIL simulators are helping OEMs, Tier 1s, universities and research institutes deal with a variety of human-centred design and engineering challenges, including:
- Handover moments
- Risk analysis on false positives
- AD controller driving comfort
- HMI and human factors
- Testing and validating supplier components and systems
- Interaction between car and passengers for autonomous driving
- Overcoming motion sickness in autonomous vehicles
DOWNLOAD ADAS/AD SOFTWARE BROCHURE
FEATURED CONTENT
3D content for driving simulators – all you need to know in our new series of articles!
Automotive, Featured Automotive, Featured NewsJan 06 2020
We get asked a lot about 3D content for simulators. After all, the visual cue...
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Motion for immersion vs motion for vehicle dynamics and motorsport
Automotive, Featured Automotive, Motion SeriesJan 14 2021
Generating the most natural human behaviour is always the goal when specifying a driving simulator....
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Cruden and VIRES VTD: making easy integration easier!
Automotive, Featured AutomotiveMar 22 2021
At Cruden, we view the driving simulator as a flexible and accessible gateway; a tool...
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Good vibrations: Using a driving simulator for NVH development
Automotive, Featured Automotive, Motion SeriesJun 03 2021
In article 5 of 8 of our Motion Series of articles, Cruden’s Dennis Marcus and...
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OUR THREE REAL-TIME SIMULATORS FOR AUTOMOTIVE DEVELOPMENT
We have created three standard real-time vehicle simulators for automotive engineering and research. All of our automotive simulators include the following: Professional automotive driver interface equipment (where preferred over customer’s own hardware); Panthera simulator software suite; high quality control loading; a purpose-designed direct drive force feedback steering system for high-speed steering wheel applications; extremely accurate and realistic driver feedback due to industry-leading low latency and high frequency response; high quality rendering and audio; content package of endless highway, proving ground skid pan and mountain driving route.
Upgrade options are available for each simulator. They include: display/projection system upgrades; chassis mock-up integration; HRT system for HIL integration; Interchangeable Driver Cell, for quickly swapping mock-ups between sessions; external vehicle model integration; additional DOF – lateral or yaw and/or larger motion systems.
A compact driver-in-the-loop (DIL) simulator for departmental use where footprint and budget are limited, either with or without motion. Ideal for driver observation work in HMI, ADAS & AV concept development.
AS1 CUSTOMER: UT-AUSTIN REQUEST SPECIFICATION SHEET- Static or 6-DOF motion system with 400 mm stroke actuators
- 3 x 42″ onboard screen
- Standard dynamic frame with mounting profile structures
- Standard automotive driver interface hardware
- Internal vehicle model supplied by Cruden
- 6-DOF motion system with 640 mm stroke actuators
- 210 deg conical projection screen with three projectors
- Dynamic frame with chassis mock-ups
- Customer-supplied automotive driver interface hardware
- Integration of customer-supplied/third party vehicle model
The ultimate complete DIL vehicle simulator offering the highest possible level of immersion. Suitable for multiple applications: vehicle dynamics, ADAS and HMI testing.
REQUEST SPECIFICATION SHEET
- 6-DOF (or more) motion system with 640 mm (or larger) stroke actuators
- High contrast and high resolution visual system with 210 deg (or more) conical projection screen and simulation projectors
- Extra stiff dynamic platform for optimized frequency response
- Customer-supplied automotive driver interface (and mock-up) hardware
- Customer-supplied/third party vehicle model
RICHARD UHLMANN
RICHARD UHLMANN
Project Manager at Audi AG
“The driving simulator is part of the comprehensive virtual development chain that we are already using successfully to design new chassis. In the future, we want to use it to experience driving characteristics very early on, in order to make pivotal decisions about the project. That saves time and resources and makes it possible for us to influence the vehicle concept early on.”
GIL DE FERRAN
GIL DE FERRAN
Indianapolis 500 winner, Indy car champion and consultant to HPD (Honda Performance Development)
“Because [setup] changes can be done so quickly, the simulator allows you to run through many more [chassis geometry and track condition] changes than you could perform with an actual race car. It also allows you to perform experiments that would be completely impractical – or highly expensive – on an actual race car.”
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GUILLAUME CAPIETTO
GUILLAUME CAPIETTO
Technical Director, Prema Racing
“Our previous simulator wasn’t realistic enough to be used for car development or setup optimisation and was not really open to development by our own engineers. Adding Panthera gives us better platform cueing to improve driver immersion; better performing and more efficient image rendering and a higher display frequency; better control of steering force feedback and belt-tensioner cueing; more realistic car and tyre models; and better correlation between simulation and real-driving.”
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LEWIS BUTLER
LEWIS BUTLER
Technical Director at Mahindra Racing
“A professional simulator is needed to ensure that our energy strategies are correct and that our drivers are familiar with all the controls procedures and options before we get to the track. After researching all options, we concluded that a Cruden simulator will provide the best balance between cost and technical benefit. It’s important that we are be able to integrate the simulator with our existing vehicle model. Cruden is a skilled system integrator with a detailed understanding of racing operations which gives us a great deal of confidence.”
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MARIAN GÖLLNER
MARIAN GÖLLNER
Research Assistant at the Ostfalia University of Applied Sciences
“The development cycle of any mechatronic component consists of three main stages: model-in-the-loop, software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop. For us, there was a gap because the driver is not involved in any of these three stages. To do this we purchased a Cruden DIL simulator, which is now the fourth and final stage of our simulation cycle.”
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JAY R GROMASKI
JAY R GROMASKI
Senior Manager of Autonomous Test & Simulation Development at Mobis.
“We selected Cruden as a full system integrator of the simulation environment and due to the company’s proper management of the simulator latency effect and quality of customer service.”
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JONATHAN NICOLS
JONATHAN NICOLS
Lead Systems Engineer at Artemis Technologies.
“The simulator will enable Artemis Technologies to make design direction decisions much earlier. We learn too much too late, only discovering whether the offline engineering has been successful once we get the boat in the water.”
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AXEL NIKLASSON
AXEL NIKLASSON
Student driver from Chalmers Automotive Simulator Technology Education Research (CASTER)
“It is so easy to change the setup in the simulator. It allows us to get a first glimpse of how the cars’ mechanical grip changes with different setups. Usually we do ten minute stints with quick setup changes and as a driver it’s great to feel the immediate effect of a change, rather than having to wait for the mechanics.”
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PROFESSOR JUNMIN WANG
PROFESSOR JUNMIN WANG
Director, Mobility Systems Laboratory at UT-Austin
“The Cruden system affords us the luxury of testing and validating autonomous vehicle control systems exclusively or as part of a wider scope of research where human behaviours and interactions with these systems are repeatedly monitored and observed in real time. The flexibility and ease at which the hardware and software works together enables us to conduct repeatable and measurable research on accurate representations of the vehicles, the prevailing driving environment and numerous scenarios in which a driver may encounter.”
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A LIST OF WELL-KNOWN ORGANIZATIONS THAT TRUST CRUDEN
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See our brochures for more information on driving simulators and their automotive engineering applications, as well as our Panthera simulator software.
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FREE PANTHERA DOWNLOAD
Welcome to Cruden’s no-cost, license-free version of its Panthera simulation software. Users can run simulations, modify and expand vehicle models, add interfaces to hardware and use custom cars and tracks.
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