DARMSTADT, Germany, May 3, 2024 – VI-grade, the global provider of human-centric simulation-driven vehicle development solutions, today announced that Bentley Motors Ltd., the epitome of luxury and performance in the automotive world, has chosen VI-grade’s state-of-the-art COMPACT FSS Simulator technology to enhance their digital development capabilities.
Bentley engineers strategically chose the COMPACT FSS for its unique Multi-Attribute Simulation technology, enabling a comprehensive assessment of their vehicles in Motion, Vibration, and Sound. The decision was reinforced by Bentley’s trust in VI-grade, the proven performance of their solutions, the impressive results obtained at VI-grade SimCenter during the evaluation phase of the simulator, as well as the holistic approach offered by it.
In detail, the COMPACT FSS Simulator will play a pivotal role in building virtual prototypes of Bentley’s future BEV models. Key applications include Vehicle NVH development, Ride and Handling tuning, thorough evaluation of primary and secondary ride comfort, and contribution to the overall sound experience for interior noise assessment through multi-attribute simulation.
Charlie Smith, virtual vehicle engineer at Bentley Motors, emphasized, “The COMPACT FSS is viewed as a strategic step towards accelerating our development cycle, minimizing reliance on physical prototypes, and enhancing simulation capabilities. This cutting-edge technology will prominently feature in Bentley’s new Driver-in-the-Loop (DiL) Hub soon to be completed in Crewe, UK.”
Alessio Lombardi, VI-grade EMEA and Americas sales director, commented, “This success reaffirms VI-grade’s commitment to providing advanced solutions and fortifying our partnership with Bentley Motors Ltd. We are excited to contribute to Bentley’s journey of digital development, driving excellence in the automotive industry.”
Charlie Smith will also be giving a keynote presentation at VI-grade’s ZERO PROTOTYPES Summit, to be held May 14-16 at SimCenter Udine. The presentation will focus on the importance of a “virtual first” mindset in engineering for the next generation of Bentley vehicles. For the full conference agenda and more information about the event, please follow this link.
About the COMPACT FSS Simulator
Automakers and automotive design and development engineers face the challenge of making million-dollar design decisions without the benefit of physical prototypes. Those prototypes provide confidence, but they are too expensive and too slow to keep up with the pace of modern design and development.
The COMPACT Full Spectrum Dynamic Simulator (FSS) provide engineers and decision-makers with the confidence that their decisions on design and content are correct, especially for subjective attributes like ride comfort, sound, vibration and the use and interaction with other features.
The COMPACT FSS simulator provides highly accurate motion, vibration, and sound in a small footprint. It enables Human-in-the-Loop simulation, which is the vital connection between objective simulation data and subjective human perception. It provides a full-spectrum simulation from 0.5Hz to 20kHz, making it ideal for ride comfort, overall vehicle refinement characterization, and any evaluation that requires experiencing multiple vehicle attributes.
The COMPACT FSS simulator is powered by a VI-grade AutoHawk real-time computer, which runs real-time vehicle dynamics models and generates motion, vibration, and sound. Additional sound and vibration content is provided by VI-NVHSim software components.
The COMPACT FSS is especially well-suited for Ride & Comfort evaluations, where motion, vibration, and sound combine to create the total driver and passenger experience. It is also suitable for seat evaluations, as virtually any seat can be placed on the COMPACT FSS, with motion and vibration delivered to the seat rail attachment locations.
About VI-grade
VI-grade is the global provider of disruptive vehicle development solutions that are paving the way to developing vehicles with Zero Prototypes.
Its human-centric solutions comprise industry-leading real-time simulation software, professional driving simulators and Hardware-in-the-Loop solutions that accelerate product development across the transportation industry.
The company’s suite of scalable driving simulators covers a wide performance range to assess the multi-disciplinary driving experience. These proven solutions enable OEMs, suppliers, research centers, motorsport teams and universities to reduce physical prototypes while accelerating innovation in their quest to get ever nearer to achieving the ultimate development goal of Zero Prototypes.
VI-grade is part of HBK’s Virtual Test Division, which focuses on providing real-time software, simulator, and hardware-in-the-loop solutions to virtually test products throughout the development cycle, helping companies accelerate innovation and reduce time-to-market, and improve their competitive advantage.
For further information, please visit www.vi-grade.com.
