[ODE] Re: Simulating Wheels

[Nate W]

On Fri, 7 Nov 2003, Steve Baker wrote:

> >> Springs and dampers is no hokus - if it's too stiff, make it softer, if
> >> it's too soft - make it stiffer. Make the parameters adjustable as you
> >> drive and adjust them until you're happy. No problem.
> 
> Well it *is* a problem if you are trying to reproduce the handling of
> a specific car (as I do) - and you want to predict the effect of doing
> things like putting lowering springs onto the car or putting more viscous
> oil in the shocks.
> 
> Just tweaking it until it seems right isn't going to cut it.

That assumes you're modeling the bumps and dips in the roads you drive on
with similar accuracy.

Seems to me that if you tweak it until it seems about right, then tweaking
a parameter of the simulated car by 10% should give you a pretty good idea
of how the handling will change in reality if you tweak a parameter on the
car by 10%.

-- 

Nate Waddoups
Redmond WA USA
http://www.natew.com/