FCA claims North America's most-advanced driving simulator

FCA recently inaugurated what it's billing as the most advanced driving simulator in North America at its Automotive Research and Development Centre (ARDC) in Windsor, Ontario. The new Vehicle Dynamics Simulator (VDS) provides nine degrees of freedom and driver-specific calibrations to emulate a vehicle's driving behavior on a wide range of surfaces and environments. The new hardware-in-the-loop test bench will permit iterating a host of simulated systems between concept and prototype phases to improve the overall product experience.

The new simulator is just part of ARDC's growing role in FCA's global system-level product development. The 23-acre, 215,000-ft² facility adjacent to Windsor's airport opened in 1996 and houses a wide spectrum of engineering talent and advanced tools, including teams dedicated to road-load chassis simulation, brake-system NVH, seating comfort and lighting. The simulator appears part of an overall investment by FCA to leverage its engineering breadth to quantify and improve quality metrics.