Design of prototype simulation system for driving performance of electromagnetic unmanned robot applied to automotive test

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present a prototype simulation system for driving performance of an electromagnetic unmanned robot applied to automotive test (URAT) to solve that it is difficult and dangerous to online debug control program and to quickly obtain test vehicle dynamic performance. Design/methodology/approach – The driving performance of the electromagnetic URAT can be evaluated by the prototype simulation system. The system can simulate various driving conditions of test vehicles. An improved vehicle longitudinal dynamics model matching to the electromagnetic URAT is established. The proposed model has good real-time, and it is easy to implement. The displacement of throttle mechanical leg, brake mechanical leg, clutch mechanical leg and shift mechanical arm is used for the system input. Test vehicle speed and engine speed are used for the system output, and they are obtained by the computation of the established vehicle longitudinal dynamics model. Findings – Driving conditions simulation test and vehicle emission test are performed using a Ford Focus car. Simulation and experiment results show that the proposed prototype simulation system in the paper can simulate the driving conditions of actual vehicles, and the performance that electromagnetic URAT drives an actual vehicle is evaluated by the simulation system. Research limitations/implications – Future research will focus on improving the real time of the proposed simulation system. Practical implications – The autonomous driving performance of electromagnetic URAT can be evaluated by the proposed prototype simulation system. Originality/value – A prototype simulation system for driving performance of an electromagnetic URAT based on an improved vehicle longitudinal dynamics model is proposed in this paper, so that it can solve the difficulty and danger of online debugging control program, quickly obtaining the test vehicle performance.