Advanced Driving Simulator for Vehicle Testing

Suspended Motion Platform Engineering for Space Constraints

For the German Aerospace Center (DLR) in Braunschweig, Simtec Systems engineered an advanced driving simulator to support cutting-edge mobility research. The project presented a complex structural challenge: generating realistic vehicle motion with large travel distances while operating strictly within the height limits of an existing research hall. Traditional simulator designs place the vehicle cabin on top of a motion platform, which would have exceeded the facility’s vertical clearance. To overcome this limitation, Simtec engineered the innovative HEXaDRIVE® Hover concept—a reverse-engineered motion framework that suspends the cockpit inside the actuator structure rather than mounting it above.

Realistic Vehicle Dynamics in Low-Clearance Labs

This inverted architectural design allows a complete VW Golf cockpit to be positioned directly within the motion base, maximizing travel range in low-headroom environments. By optimizing multi-axis kinematics and stroke lengths, the system accurately reproduces dynamic driving maneuvers, longitudinal acceleration, and lateral forces. Inside the laboratory, test drivers experience true-to-life physical feedback identical to actual road conditions. The precise synchronization of high-speed motion, visual cues, and real-time vehicle dynamics models enables researchers to simulate extreme driving forces and critical traffic scenarios safely indoors.

Accelerating Next-Generation Automotive Research

Today, the HEXaDRIVE® Hover platform stands as one of Europe’s most sophisticated facilities for automotive simulation. DLR researchers utilize the system to analyze driver behavior, evaluate advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), and test future autonomous vehicle concepts under highly repeatable conditions. By delivering high-dynamic motion performance within severe architectural constraints, Simtec demonstrated its engineering capabilities in custom test rig development. This landmark project continues to push the boundaries of vehicle safety and automotive innovation across the industry.