At the 10th Dortmund "ADAC SimRacing Expo", the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering impressed visitors for the first time with its own stand and showed that driving simulators are not only gaining in importance for consumer electronics.
"This is the best simulator here at the whole exhibition!" An enthusiastic comment like this about the exceptionally realistic driving experience could be heard again and again at the FH stand. Over the three days of the trade fair from October 18 to 20, 2024, more than 70 international exhibitors took part with around 200 simulators.
From design, kinematics and material selection to model and software development, driving simulators require the expertise of a wide range of engineering disciplines. "At our stand, all age groups were able to experience how we use a driving simulator in teaching and research to support the digital transformation," says Prof. Dr. Alessandro Fortino, Vice Dean for Research at the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and expert in acoustics in vehicle development.
All disciplines covered
"Vehicle manufacturers are using simulators increasingly intensively in the development process in order to experience vehicle functions as early as possible, even before the first prototype physically exists, and to be able to develop the software for new models," reports Alessandro Fortino. "That's why we cover all disciplines of modeling with our simulator in order to prepare our students as well as possible for the new key tasks in their professional lives."
In addition to the simulator, visitors to the UAS stand, including many prospective students, also marveled at a - very real - racing car from the student Race-Ing. team(Opens in a new tab) and the model of an engine test bench demonstrated by Prof. Dr. Markus Thoben.