Evaluation of Steering Feel with Different Feedback Actuators in Driving Simulators

Driving simulators can help to understand the driving performance of virtual vehicle prototypes, especially to evaluate with human inputs if they are feasible and are meeting the expectations of the development team. The representation of steering feel is one of the essential characteristics to deliver a realistic driving experience besides other feedback channels like visual, audible or vestibular, which are equally important to be represented in a driving simulator environment. The representation of steering feel, more specifically torque/force feedback is typically achieved through a Model-in-the-Loop or a Software-in-the-Loop setup with the help of an e-motor drive unit. For this approach it is necessary to simulate the whole chain of components up to the driver’s hand, e.g. the tire-road interaction, the suspension and the steering system including the mechanical and electrical components. A different approach is implementing the steering system hardware and ECU in the loop with a rack force actuator on the steering rack and a bus simulation. Both approaches are analyzed in terms of steering feel on driving simulators. The benefits of the presented Hardware-in-the-Loop implementation for closed-loop assessment on a dynamic driving simulator are presented. Subjective evaluation results from an expert study are discussed.