Digital twin road

The chassis as data source for the digital twin of the road system

In the Collaborative Research Centre 339 "Digital Twin of the Road System" of the German Research Foundation (DFG), various institutes of RWTH Aachen University and TU Dresden are conducting research on a physical-informational representation of the road system of the future over a period of up to 12 years. The Institute for Automotive Engineering (ika) will integrate the chassis as a data source for the digital twin of the road system.

As the main users of the road system, vehicles play a central role in the development of the digital twin. The interaction between the road and the vehicle occurs via the chassis as vehicle subsystem including the tyres. The contact patch between the tyre and the road surface is used for power transmission, which is relevant for vehicle dynamics on the one hand and contains detailed information about the road surface on the other.

The aim of our sub-project is to research a concept for obtaining this information in order to provide the digital twin of the road system with real-time data about loads applied by the vehicle and the road condition. By using real load data, in close cooperation with other institutes, it will be possible to derive measures for the more sustainable use of the road infrastructure by vehicles. In addition to its primary purpose as input data for the digital twin, the data obtained is also highly relevant for the development of future active chassis systems to improve vehicle safety.

As the first component in the load path between the road and the vehicle, the tyre plays a central role in this sub-project. However, real-time data on the interaction between tyre and road cannot be collected directly, as a direct measurement of the force distribution in the contact patch is not possible. To meet this challenge, a model-based approach for data generation is chosen. At the core of this approach is a real-time capable tyre model whose input data is provided by a distributed sensor concept in the chassis, which is to be researched. In addition to existing sensors in modern vehicles, such as acceleration sensors on chassis components, novel sensors are being tested to increase the quality of the input data of the tyre model. Acoustic-based sensor concepts can be used, for example, to generate information about the current road surface and the current coefficient of adhesion. Data fusion between the tyre model and the distributed sensor concept ensures the provision of accurate wheel load data in longitudinal, lateral and vertical directions as well as data on the actual road surface condition in real time.