Slalom

A Slalom event drives the vehicle in a straight, followed by a sequence of turns around cones in alternate directions with constant vehicle velocity.

Output Requests are included to measure the vehicle state variables, tire forces, and tire state variables. The Altair Driver steers the vehicle and maintains constant speed. A plot template is available to plot the results.
The slalom event is supported by the Cars & Small Trucks, Heavy Trucks, and Two-Wheeler vehicle libraries.
Figure 1. Slalom Event


The parameters available in the Slalom event are detailed in the following table:
Parameter Name Description
Units Describes the Length, Velocity, and Acceleration units.
  • Length (Model, m, ft)
  • Velocity (Model, m/s, km/h, mph).
  • Acceleration (Model, m/s2, g’s).
Initial straight Initial straight distance before starting in the turn sequence.
Cone spacing Distance between cones placed longitudinally with respect to vehicle.
Lateral displacement Lateral distance of the vehicle desired path from the cones.
Final straight Straight distance section of the path after the turn sequence.
Velocity Desired speed of the vehicle.
Number of cones Number of cones placed in the path.
Turn direction Direction the vehicle turns during the event (as seen by the driver).

Controller Settings

Non-leaning events (Cars/Trucks)
LONGITUDINAL – TRACTION CONTROLLER SETTINGS
  • Use additional control: Enables the additional feedback control for the traction control. The gains for the controller can be edited by toggling this check box.
    Kp Proportional gain for the feedback PID controller
    Ki Integral gain for the feedback PID controller
    Kd Derivative gain for the feedback PID controller
LATERAL – STEERING CONTROLLER SETTINGS
  • Altair Driver uses Feedforward steering controller for non-leaning vehicles like Cars and Trucks. The following settings can be edited by the user.
    Look ahead time Look ahead time for the feedforward model to evaluate future states of the vehicle
    Prediction step size Maximum step size, used by the Driver feedforward steering model
For more information see the Altair Driver Mathematical Methods topic.
Leaning events (Two-wheelers)
LONGITUDINAL – TRACTION CONTROLLER SETTINGS
  • Use additional control: Enables the additional feedback control for the traction control. The gains for the controller can be edited by toggling this check box.
    Kp Proportional gain for the feedback PID controller
    Ki Integral gain for the feedback PID controller
    Kd Derivative gain for the feedback PID controller
LATERAL – STEERING CONTROLLER SETTINGS
  • The Lean PID and Lateral Error PID controllers only apply to leaning vehicles (for example, motorcycles and scooters).

    Steer control: Control mode for steering can be switched between ‘MOTION’ and ‘TORQUE’

    Lean control
    The Lean PID takes as input a demand lean angle and outputs front fork (steering) angle. For open loop events the lean angle demand is a function of time. For closed loop path following events the demand lean angle is computed based on the vehicle speed and the path curvature with a correction for lateral path error.
    Kp Proportional gain for the lean controller
    Ki Integral gain for the lean controller
    Kd Derivative gain for the lean controller
    Lateral error control
    The Lateral Error PID takes as input the predicted lateral path error and outputs an increment to the demanded lean angle. The lateral error is computed by predicting the vehicle’s lateral position relative to the path by the look ahead time in the future. The Lateral Error PID acts to lean the vehicle toward the path.
    Look ahead time Look ahead time for the feedforward model to evaluate future states of the vehicle
    Kp Proportional gain for the lateral error controller
    Ki Integral gain for the lateral error controller
    Kd Derivative gain for the lateral error controller
    For more information see the Leaning Two and Three Wheeler Vehicles and Gain Tuning for Leaning Two and Three Wheeler Vehicles topics.

Signal Settings

Use the signal settings to set minimum, maximum, smooth frequency and initial values for Steering, Throttle, Brake, Gear, and Clutch signals output by the driver.

The smoothing frequency is used to control how fast the Driver changes signals. Only closed loop control signals from the Driver are smoothed. Open loop signals are not smoothed.

Road Settings

Three options are available to specify the road in the event, Flat Event, Road File, and Tires.
Flat Road
Uses a flat smooth road for the event with no required road file.
When the Flat Road is selected, the Graphics Setting option is available with the following parameters:
  • View path centerline: Enables the visualization of the event path.
    • This check box is disabled for open loop events without a path.
  • View grid graphics: Enables the visualization of the road grid graphics.
    • When view grid graphics check box is toggled, road grid parameters can be edited in the Grid Settings tab.
    Grid length Defines the length of the road. Enter a positive value in the model units.
    Grid Width Defines the width of the road. Enter a positive value in the model units.
    Grid X offset Gives a distance offset to the road graphics in the longitudinal direction. Enter a positive value in the model units.
    Grid Y offset Gives a distance offset to the road graphics in the lateral direction. Enter a positive value in the model units.