Leading tire manufacturer acquires Ansible Motion Theta C compact driving simulator to assist with research and development work.
In order to expand its research, development and simulation capabilities, Michelin is installing a new Ansible Motion Driver-in-the-Loop (DIL) simulator at their North America R&D center in Greenville,
As one of the world’s leading tire manufacturers, Michelin sees an increasing need for human-in-the-loop simulation. “Our customers rely on virtual vehicle models to gain efficiency, improve performance and reduce cost during the vehicle development process,” explains Rajat Aggarwal, Tire Performance Expert at Michelin. “Investing in this Ansible Motion Theta C Driver-in-the-Loop simulator allows Michelin to satisfy the needs of our customers for reliable vehicle models by providing robust and accurate tire models. For this reason, Michelin has developed the MICHELIN® TameTire® tire model, which calculates a tire's thermal and transient state as well as its forces and torques in both offline and online real-time simulation environments.”
Ansible Motion’s Theta C simulator is a new, compact, self-contained cube simulator. Its compact form factor belies the underlying architecture, which is powerful enough to handle sophisticated vehicle and environmental physics models, thus allowing validation of emerging automotive technologies. Adopting a clean-sheet, first-principles design approach has allowed Ansible Motion to introduce the most immersive environment ever for a compact Driver-in-the-Loop (DIL) simulator, whilst making the practical operation much easier. “We’ve distilled the key engineering-grade componentry that’s required for human immersion inside a small physical space,” states Kia Cammaerts, Director of Ansible Motion. “We see Theta C as a fundamental building block for connecting real people with automotive simulation environments. It’s aimed at delivering a practical balance between cost, complexity, and capability.”
The Theta C simulator was first unveiled as a prototype in May 2019, at the Automotive Engineering Exposition 2019 in Yokohama, Japan. After receiving favourable reviews and feedback based on hands-on customer experiences, Ansible Motion readied Theta C for its official introduction. Ansible Motion officially introduced its Theta C simulator in October, 2019.