Formula 1 teams are using Dymola to reduce laptimes
Dymola is used by over half of the current Formula 1 teams for a wide variety of simulation tasks. Those teams that are gaining the most from Dymola are using it to create a single common engineering model that is reused across the organisation. This model is then deployed in to the trackside tools, HIL test rigs, driving simulators, in fact, anywhere that needs a simulation of the formula 1 car. By reusing the same model in this way the teams are able to avoid the duplication of modelling efforts and use the time saved to focus on optimising the performance.
Single Common Engineering Model
Dymola’s multi-domain modelling capability supports the development of a single model that can easily be shared. This single model can include a MultiBody model of the suspension, models of the powertrain including the complete electrical system associated with KERS, the cooling system, hydraulic models related to the transmission, the control systems and more. By working with a single common engineering model, each department can focus on developing their part of the car and easily incorporate updates from other departments. This reduces the duplication in modelling effort that is common in most organisations and ensures that every part of the team is working with the latest design.
The physical modelling approach used by Dymola enables the models to be reused for many different types of analysis without having to rewrite the model for each task. This is handled automatically by symbolic manipulation. For example, the suspension model can be reused in statics, quasi-statics, kinematics and dynamic analysis and all that changes is the experiment that the suspension model is inserted into.
The scripting capabilities of Dymola support design exploration, for example running parameter sweeps or sensitivity analysis. For more advanced design of experiments or optimisation tasks the link to Isight, also a product from Dassault Systemes, makes it very easy to define these complex analysis tasks and automatically distribute them to multiple PC’s to get fast results.
Integration with Simulink
Within Formula 1 a standard electronic control unit is supplied to all the teams by McLaren Electronics. This standard ECU can be programmed using Simulink and it is therefore essential that any models of the car can also work with Simulink to support the development and testing of the ECU code.
Dymola models can be compiled as s-functions for use in Simulink so that they can be easily integrated with the ECU code and tested. It is also possible to compile the Simulink model of the ECU code using real-time workshop and then embed this compiled code in to Dymola using the Functional Mock-up Interface standard. This bi-directional support provides the integration necessary to support the design and optimisation of the control software and calibration.
Deploying the models
In addition to seeing benefits in the Design office, the teams can realise further benefits by taking advantage of the model export options available for Dymola. These options support the compilation of the models as executables, dll’s and the export of c-source code. The export options coupled with Dymola’s support for real-time simulation mean that the design models can be reused throughout the team.
Some of the areas where we find the Dymola models being used by the teams are in the trackside tools where the Race Engineers can use the models to help make setup changes at the track. We also find them in full-motion driving simulators where the Dymola model is running in real-time to provide the physical behaviour of the car. Models can also be compiled to support the McLaren Electronics vTag platform which means that simulation results can appear alongside sensor outputs in the the telemetry stream.
The result
The end result for the Formula 1 teams is that they can reduce the amount of time spent building the models they need across the organisation and focus more of their engineering resources on using the models to optimise how all the systems interact. What is seen on the track is a reduction in laptime to help the team win races and what we find in the design office is a more streamlined and efficient development process.
