Vehicle dynamics measurements

The modern vehicle development process relies evermore on the support of extensive subjective evaluation by objective vehicle dynamics measurements. Performing open-loop manoeuvres in conjunction with a steering robot greatly increases the reproducibility and eliminates influences caused by the driver. The obtained time data require considerable processing, in order to generate meaningful parameters, e.g. such as those defined in the ISO standards. The occurrence of time delay in the chain of measurements signals requires consideration in particular. Furthermore, the measured quantities must relate to a vehicle reference point. In the combined work of the BMW Group and the University of Bath, evaluation routines were developed, which significantly reduced the time spent on data processing by simultaneous improvement in the data quality. By employing these procedures, vehicle dynamics measurements were produced in a magnitude and to a quality previously unseen in the development process.