Mechanical Simulation Corporation Celebrates Decade Of Vehicle Dynamics Leadership


Company Grows From Research to World Distribution

ANN ARBOR, Mich., July 7, 2007- Ann Arbor, Mich.- Dr. Michael W. Sayers and Dr. Thomas D. Gillespie saw the potential for vehicle dynamics in automotive design and testing 10 years ago when they established Mechanical Simulation Corporation. But they are still excited about its applications and potential in the auto industry today and tomorrow.

“We’ve seen many unique applications for our software over the past decade,” said Dr. Sayers. “In addition to the development of CarSim® and its racing applications, we have introduced TruckSim® and BikeSim®, and seen them applied by automakers, Tier 1 suppliers and educational institutions worldwide. It’s all been very exciting.”

CarSim is Mechanical Simulation’s software package for simulating the dynamic vehicle behavior of cars, light trucks and utility vehicles. CarSim animates simulated tests and generates over 500 output variables that can be plotted and analyzed. The vehicle and chassis settings can be optimized with any DOE (design of experiments) software. Engineers in design, development, testing and planning activities use CarSim.

TruckSim is software for simulating the dynamic vehicle behavior of heavy-duty vehicles with dual wheels, asymmetric steering systems, multiple axles and single or multiple trailers. BikeSim is motorcycle vehicle dynamics software that analyzes a wide range of vehicle responses to such rider inputs as control, steering, suspension, lean, braking, tire dynamics and throttle.

Dr. Sayers and Dr. Gillespie established Mechanical Simulation to continue the vehicle dynamic behavior and modeling activities they pioneered at the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). Dr. Sayers developed the world’s most advanced automated code generation capability for vehicles and other multibody systems. This code generator is used by Mechanical Simulation for all multibody modeling.

Dr. Gillespie is known worldwide as the leader in vehicle dynamics engineering, and authored the textbook “Fundamentals of Vehicle Dynamics.” He teaches vehicle dynamics to engineers at many of the world’s automotive companies.

“In these first 10 years of Mechanical Simulation, I’ve seen vehicle dynamics applied in such diverse areas as racing, driving simulators (like table-top and full size vehicle simulators, flight simulators, even arcade games), and in many real time applications,” said Dr. Gillespie. “Our calculations are more and more precise, allowing our simulations to be more exacting.”

In 2004 the company moved to a newly-renovated historic building at 912 North Main St., near downtown Ann Arbor, Mich. The new facilities offer convenient access to a full training facility and the option for expansion as the corporation grows.

Today, Mechanical Simulation provides car, truck and motorcycle simulation packages, training and ongoing support to more than 20 OEMs, over 30 Tier 1 suppliers and more than 60 universities and government research groups worldwide. “The upstart of our efforts is a system that is a repeatable, realistic simulation of on-track testing,” said Terry Rhoades, Mechanical Simulation president. “It’s easier than ever to use, operates in real time on Mac or PC computers, and can accommodate links to software-in-the-loop and hardware-in-the-loop systems. And we’re finding new applications for our CarSim, TruckSim and BikeSim every day.”

For more information about Mechanical Simulation Corporation, visit www.carsim.com.