Student Competition: Physical Modeling Training, Part 3: Introduction to Vehicle Modeling

From the series: Student Competition: Physical Modeling Training

An overview of vehicle modeling including how to model vehicle bodies, tires, brakes, and how to incorporate wind and terrain effects. This training is applicable for both combustion and electric engine student competition teams.

Multiple steps are involved in vehicle modeling, step one is generally modeling the frame and tires. A model is then used to demonstrate the longitudinal dynamics of the vehicle while the tires are modeled with tire magic formula using the Tire block from Simscape Driveline™. Speedometer and odometer functionalities are then added to measure and validate physical quantities in the model. Wind and terrain effects are then explored to show how they can impact the motion of the vehicle. The final step is to add manual brakes to the vehicle.

In summary, modeling vehicle bodies requires modeling tires, wind and terrain effects, and brakes. We would like to thank the Virginia Tech Motorsports team for providing us with data about their vehicle, motors, engines, and batteries for use in this training.