NHTSA/APL HYBRID COMPUTER VEHICLE HANDLING PROGRAM

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) currently has operational at the Applied Physics Laboratory of The Johns Hopkins University (APL/JHU) A simulation which predicts the dynamic response of motor vehicles to braking and steering commands as well as aerodynamic and road roughness disturbances. The simulation model equations are solved simultaneously on an analog computer and a digital computer yielding a hydrib computer solution to the model. Simulation control is exercised via a CRT and keyboard terminal with complete interactive operation available for data manipulation, data collection, and run control. The interactive terminal need not be located at the hybrid computer and thus remote simulation operation is feasible. This paper explains the interactive use of the Hybrid Computer Vehicle Handling Program (HVHP), examines the development of the mathematical model, details the types of motor vehicles for which it has been validated, explains the interactive use of the simulation, and discusses the computing system on which the simulation model is solved.