RFpro

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rFpro
rFpro logo RFpro Logo.png
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DeveloperrFpro Limited
Release year2007
Engine isiMotor2

rFpro, originally rFactor Pro, is a driving simulation software used by racing teams and car manufacturers for advanced driver-assistance systems, self-driving cars and vehicle dynamics. rFactor Pro was created in 2007 as a project of a F1 racing team, using Image Space Incorporated's rFactor as a codebase. [1] It has since been used by more F1 racing teams, top road car OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and motorsport manufacturers. [2] It was originally developed for driver-in-the-Loop simulations, [3] but has since been used for autonomous vehicle training as well. It is not licensed to consumers. [4]

Contents

History

rFactor Pro was created in 2007 as a project of a F1 team, using the rFactor simulator as a codebase, [1] and has since been used by more F1 racing teams, [5] [6] including Force India in 2009, [7] Ferrari in 2014 [8] [9] and Alfa Romeo in 2019. [10]

rFpro is developed by rFpro Limited, based in Wiltshire, UK. [2] In 2017 rFpro acquired Image Space Incorporated's ISIMotor gaming engine, including the gMotor graphics engine, which it had been licensing since 2007. [11] In 2019 rFpro was acquired by AB Dynamics. [10]

In 2020 rFpro partnered with cosin scientific software to enable FTire (Flexible Ring Tire Model) to run with rFpro. [12] [13] [14]

Features

rFpro features a 120 Hz graphics engine, a library of high definition laser scanned tracks and roads, and an infrastructure in which users can plug their in-house vehicle physics through a Simulink or a C/C++ interface. [15] [1] [16] Alternatively rFpro rigid multibody physics engine can be used, which samples suspension and drive-train at 800Hz. [17] rFpro includes a tool called TerrainServer, which can feed the LiDAR data with a 1cm resolution to a vehicle model running in realtime up to 5kHz. [3] The library of laser scanned tracks includes most of those used in the F1 championship. [18]

In switching to rFpro for its simulator software in 2014, the Ferrari F1 team cited the high fidelity of the reproduced track surface, with an accuracy better than 1mm in Z (height) and 1cm in X and Y (position), which represented a ten-fold improvement over their previous solution. [8] They also cited the ability to respond to dynamic inputs faster than the driver can detect.

See also

Related Research Articles

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simulink</span> Programming environment

Simulink is a MATLAB-based graphical programming environment for modeling, simulating and analyzing multidomain dynamical systems. Its primary interface is a graphical block diagramming tool and a customizable set of block libraries. It offers tight integration with the rest of the MATLAB environment and can either drive MATLAB or be scripted from it. Simulink is widely used in automatic control and digital signal processing for multidomain simulation and model-based design.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sim racing</span> Video game genre

Simulated racing or racing simulation, commonly known as simply sim racing, are the collective terms for racing game software that attempts to accurately simulate auto racing, complete with real-world variables such as fuel usage, damage, tire wear and grip, and suspension settings. To be competitive in sim racing, a driver must understand all aspects of car handling that make real-world racing so difficult, such as threshold braking, how to maintain control of a car as the tires lose traction, and how properly to enter and exit a turn without sacrificing speed. It is this level of difficulty that distinguishes sim racing from arcade racing-style driving games where real-world variables are taken out of the equation and the principal objective is to create a sense of speed as opposed to a sense of realism.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Driving simulator</span> Professional simulator designed for beginner drivers

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<i>rFactor</i> 2005 video game

rFactor is a computer racing simulator designed with the ability to run any type of four-wheeled vehicle from street cars to open wheel cars of any era. rFactor aimed to be the most accurate race simulator of its time. Released in November 2005, rFactor did not have much competition in this market, but it featured many technical advances in tire modeling, complex aerodynamics and a 15 degrees of freedom physics engine.

Dynamic simulation is the use of a computer program to model the time-varying behavior of a dynamical system. The systems are typically described by ordinary differential equations or partial differential equations. A simulation run solves the state-equation system to find the behavior of the state variables over a specified period of time. The equation is solved through numerical integration methods to produce the transient behavior of the state variables. Simulation of dynamic systems predicts the values of model-system state variables, as they are determined by the past state values. This relationship is found by creating a model of the system.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dymola</span>

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Racing wheel</span> Video game controller

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<i>rFactor 2</i> Computer racing simulator

rFactor 2 is a computer racing simulator developed by Image Space Incorporated and released for Windows in 2012. Like its predecessor rFactor, rFactor2 is designed to be modified and used by professional racing teams for driver training and race car development. Much of its source code is derived from rFactor Pro, which is also used by professional racers and most of the Formula One teams and NASCAR manufacturers.

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Marco Fainello is an Italian engineer.

A direct-drive simulator steering wheel is a simulator steering wheel with a direct-drive mechanism between the drive and output, i.e. without gearing, and is used similarly as with other simulator steering wheels for providing torque feedback so that the driver, through movement in the steering wheel, gets an interface for sensing what is happening to the car in the simulator. It is an example of human-machine interaction in driving simulators, racing simulators and racing video games, and is an example of haptic technology

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tire model</span>

In vehicle dynamics, a tire model is a type of multibody simulation used to simulate the behavior of tires. In current vehicle simulator models, the tire model is the weakest and most difficult part to simulate.

References

  1. 1 2 3 rfpro.com/about/, archived on March 4th, 2021
  2. 1 2 rFpro - Photo-realistic 3D environments with lidar-accurate road surfaces processed in real time , at mathworks.com
  3. 1 2 Dempsey, M., Fish, G., & Beltran, J. G. D. (2015) High fidelity multibody vehicle dynamics models for driver-in-the-loop simulators , in Proceedings of the 11th International Modelica Conference, Versailles, France, September 21-23, 2015 (No. 118, pp. 273-280). Linköping University Electronic Press.
  4. Paul Jeffrey rFactor Pro, at racedepartment.com, Jul 4, 2017
  5. When Computer Games meet real world Racing, at racecar-engineering.com, April 5, 2011
  6. History of the Image Space Inc. Software Engine, at imagespaceinc.com
  7. Force India Joins Long List of rFactor Pro Clients, November 14, 2009
  8. 1 2 Ferrari F1 Team switches to driving simulator software from rFpro , by Autocar Pro News Desk, 14 Oct 2014
  9. Hardware – rFactor Pro powered – 6 million dollar Ferrari F1 Simulator., Jan 18, 2012
  10. 1 2 AB Dynamics acquires simulation software specialist rFpro , by Autocar Pro News Desk , 02 July 2019
  11. rFpro acquires market-leading graphics engine to accelerate innovation in driving simulation , by Autocar Pro News Desk, 13 Nov 2017
  12. NEW PARTNERSHIP PROVIDES STEP-CHANGE IMPROVEMENT IN VEHICLE SIMULATION AND TESTING, 29/01/2020, at rfpro.com
  13. FTire and FTire/link at mathworks.com
  14. FTire physical tire model to run with rFpro driving simulation software.
  15. Mathews, Albert (2010) Powertrain optimization of a series hybrid racer (thesis), McGill University
  16. Models, at rfactor-pro.com, archived on Feb 15th 2015
  17. Design, Develop, Drive rFactor-Pro. Brochure: 2008.
  18. rFactor Pro – Laser Scanning Heaven, at virtualr.net, July 15, 2011

Further reading