Simulators of today and tomorrow.

It allows highly dynamic driving manoeuvres such as lane-changes to be realistically simulated. The driving simulator also plays an important role on the way to autonomous driving. Some of the testing and verification work for the DRIVE PILOT in the new S-Class took place there. The experts in Sindelfingen are also working on the simulator of tomorrow: In the compact XR (Extended Reality) driving simulator developed in-house, the interior functions of future vehicles can be tested flexibly with the help of digital smartglasses.

During the virtual testing of automated vehicles, the simulator quickly and efficiently allows many scenarios to be enacted that do not occur in real tests, or not often enough, because they are so infrequent. Moreover, with no physical danger, the safety developers are able to provoke situations in which the driver needs to take over control very quickly. They use the simulator to observe and assess the interaction of the driver, and e.g. measure his/her reaction time.

Numerous simulations are carried out at Mercedes-Benz during the development and testing of new vehicles. "Digital prototypes" of a vehicle created with the help of high-performance computers make it possible to test a new model completely in many driving situations, before the real vehicle even exists. As a result, the actual prototypes attain a higher maturity level more quickly, allowing even more detailed testing.

The next stage in simulator technology is also being tested in the conceptual phase in Sindelfingen: together with their colleagues in the Virtual Reality Centre (VRC), the driving simulator experts at Mercedes-Benz have developed and designed a new XR driving simulator. This is where the real and virtual surroundings blend even more closely than before, hence the designation Extended Reality.

Only very few controls physically exist in this simulator: along with the driver's seat, these are the steering wheel with touch controls, the pedal cluster and the Start switch. The respective specialist departments supply CAD data sets, UI and function models which are converted into the appropriate software by the simulation experts. This makes the driving simulation centre a "digital vehicle workshop". The XR driving simulator is the ideal addition to conventional simulators based on the cockpit of a real vehicle. Especially in a very early development stage when there is yet no hardware, the vehicle can already be digitally experienced on the road, in real time, in the XR driving simulator.

To this end, the tester only needs to take a seat and put on the smartglasses. The new simulator allows various interior functions such as display and control concepts or lighting scenarios to be staged in a still early development phase.

For the first time it is also possible to simulate parking situations under laboratory conditions. The level of realism is very high: for example, the view reflected by the exterior and rear-view mirrors changes with the viewing angle. The tester's eye direction is tracked by the smartglasses, and the mirror image adapted accordingly. The vehicle's surroundings with other vehicles or pedestrians are also simulated very realistically.

In October 2010 Mercedes-Benz officially opened the moving-base driving simulator in the company's Technology Centre in Sindelfingen. With its 360° screen, fast electric power system and the twelve-metre long rail for transverse or longitudinal movements, depending on the test setup, the moving-base simulator at Mercedes-Benz is among the most capable in the entire automobile industry.

The real car in the virtual world is a randomly chosen vehicle cab in which the tester takes a seat in the simulator cell. This can be electronically reprogrammed to simulate the behaviour of every current and future Mercedes model. The simulator cell is a hexapod mounted on six moveable supports. As well as the vehicle cab, this contains the projection screen on which road traffic is portrayed realistically with moving pedestrians, oncoming traffic and houses.

The vehicle controls are linked to the computerised controls of the driving simulator by data lines. When the test driver moves the steering wheel or accelerates, these responses are registered by the computer and have the same effects as in real traffic. The scenery shown constantly changes, and the moving base simulates the car's attitude versus the road surface, e.g. pitching when the driver brakes. The computer calculates the vehicle's behaviour over 1000 times per second, and sends the corresponding commands to the electrics. It can move the system by up to twelve metres in a transverse direction, at a speed of up to ten metres per second (36 km/h).

The first driving simulator of the former Daimler-Benz AG was developed completely in-house, and went into operation in Berlin in 1985. There are a number of safety innovations whose development was given its first impulse by this driving simulator: For example, the engineers found that while most test subjects operate the brake pedal rapidly, they do not do it with enough force – thereby sacrificing valuable braking distance. This finding led to the development of Brake Assist (BAS), which recognises this and automatically makes the full braking force available. Brake Assist has long been standard equipment in all Mercedes-Benz models.

This article was last updated in July 2024.