Simulating linear acceleration of a vehicle

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SUMMARY

The discussion centers on creating an application to simulate the linear acceleration of a vehicle down a drag strip, with a focus on accurate modeling based on real-world physics. The author, an experienced software engineer, seeks collaboration to enhance an existing simulation tool that lacks SI units and a user-friendly interface. Key factors for the simulation include torque curves, gear ratios, vehicle weight, tire size, drag, and grip. The project aims to allow users to virtually test vehicle modifications and visualize performance outcomes.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of vehicle dynamics and acceleration principles
  • Proficiency in programming, particularly in simulation development
  • Familiarity with physics concepts related to torque and drag
  • Experience with real-time graphics programming for enhanced visualization
NEXT STEPS
  • Research vehicle torque curve modeling techniques
  • Explore programming frameworks for real-time graphics, such as Unity or Unreal Engine
  • Learn about drag coefficient calculations and their impact on vehicle performance
  • Investigate existing vehicle simulation tools for potential integration or improvement
USEFUL FOR

This discussion is beneficial for software developers, automotive engineers, and physics enthusiasts interested in vehicle performance simulation and real-time modeling applications.

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Hi All,

I’m new here so please forgive me if this isn’t the right section to post in.

This is a bit of an epic idea/post so I’ll just start with a basic overview and see if anyone’s interested.

Summary:

I’m a very good software engineer and I know a reasonable amount about maths and physics but I’m looking for help in writing an application to accurately model the acceleration of a vehicle down a drag strip. This application needs to be as close to the real world as possible and would allow you to try out modifications to your vehicle virtually and see what effect they would have.

I’m not doing this for profit or as a business or anything like that, I’m doing it because I have a car that I drag race and I have a love of programming and physics.

This is entirely possible to do because after a lot of Googleing someone has already done the exact thing that I want to do. HOWEVER – it’s not in SI units, and the user interface is terrible. I also want to extend the simulation to realtime graphics and generally make it much more interesting. (but that’s to come later)

Here’s what I want to make -> http://performancesimulations.com/





Why/what/how:

Just for fun really, I’ve done some simple modelling in the past and enjoyed it, but it’s always been irrelevant things like projectiles. Recently I’ve been calculating things about my car, and its brought together 3 great interests of mine: cars, computers and physics. The thing that’s spurred me on to do this is that I have been trying to choose the best gear ratios for my car, so I sat down and worked out the RPM Vs Speed graphs for the different gearboxes available. Then out of interest I went out and measure my actual speeds with my current box. I was amazed to find that my calculations were pretty much identical to the real world. This graph shows real measurements in yellow, overlaid on the calculations in orange. -> http://www.randompower.com/gallery/pics/133.jpg

So I thought it’s entirely possible to model a car traveling down a dragstrip, if you know it’s torque curve, gear ratios, weight, tyre size, drag and grip.




So is anyone interested in undertaking this project with me? I’m looking for someone to provide the calculations that need to be done and use their experience to suggest what I should be modelling and how best to do it.
 
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This is how I've done it on http://hpwizard.com/car-performance.html" .

The theory is at the bottom of the page.

It does not include transmission details as I was more interested in the potential performance of a vehicle with basic characteristics; assuming it is appropriately tuned. But it should be a good starting point for your project.
 
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