DYNA4 - Function Development in Closed-Loop System Tests
DYNA4 is an open simulation environment for the virtual test driving of cars and commercial vehicles. The physical models include vehicle dynamics, powertrain, combustion engines, electric motors, sensors and traffic. Virtual test drives with DYNA4 facilitate safe and efficient function development and testing. Closed-loop simulations on the PC run faster than in real-time, e.g. for use in early development stages (MIL, SIL), or can be executed on Hardware-in-the-Loop systems (HIL) when ECUs are available. DYNA4’s 3D environment simulation with road infrastructure and traffic provides virtual test fields for assisted and automated driving wherever environment perception plays a key role.
Advantages
- Frontloading: testing and development of ECU functions in early stages
- Safe testing in critical driving maneuvers, including near crash situations or vulnerable road users
- Parameter variations for thousands of automated driving tests
- Weather independence: reproducible environment conditions with rain, snow, fog, wind etc.
- Direct comparison of configurations, variants etc.
- Optimization of complex systems, e.g. operating strategies with many application parameters
- Traceability of test runs through management and versioning of simulation input and output
Application Areas
Driver Assistance Systems and Autonomous Driving
- Environment perception: Lane detection, traffic sign recognition, object detection, simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) etc.
- Comfort functions: Adaptive cruise control (ACC), traffic jam assistant, parking pilot etc.
- Safety systems: Pre-crash, front collision warning (FCW), automated emergency braking (AEB), lane keeping assistant, blind spot monitoring etc.
- Car2x: Connected and cooperative driving
Virtual Test Drives with Precise Vehicle Dynamics
- Chassis control systems: Electronic stability control (ABS, ASR, ESC), active roll compensation, trailer stabilization, active suspension control etc.
- Steering control: Power steering, rear-wheel steering, superposition steering etc.
- Commercial vehicles with up to two trailers
- Virtual axle and tire test stands for generation and validation of model parameters
- Complete vehicle simulation for testing the interdependencies of networked ECUs
System Simulation and Energy Management
- CO2 reduction: Energy consumption prognosis for vehicles with conventional, hybrid or full electric powertrains and auxiliary units
- Predictive energy management functions
- Hybrid control units: Development, optimization and testing of hybrid control
functions
Simulation of Combustion Engines from MIL to HIL
- Engine management functions and on-board diagnosis
- Proof-of-concept studies during early development
- HIL simulators for testing of engine control units and components
- Analysis of design concepts for gasoline, diesel, and alternative fuels passenger car engines, high-speed race engines, heavy duty engines and marine engines
- Design of controllers for supercharging, variable valve actuation, HCCI, and EGR
- Test and development of controllers for exhaust aftertreatment
- Hardware-in-the-loop tests for engine controllers with cylinder pressure sensing
- Feasibility studies and evaluation of engine design
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Are you interested in virtual test drives for control function development? Then let's talk!
Felix Beygang
Helping to simplify closed-loop simulations. Fom MIL, SIL to HIL.
DYNA4 Key Features
Virtual Vehicle: Models for Closed-Loop System Tests
- Seamless integration of vehicle control functions and strategies
- One or more vehicles under test, e.g. for cooperative driving
- Use-case dependent choice of model fidelity from basic models to high-fidelity models
- Vehicle dynamics for cars, trailers, trucks and commercial vehicles
- Pre-configured, modular drivetrain models with mechanical and electrical components
- Engine dynamics based on mean-value or detailed thermodynamic cylinder models
- Driver models for different applications
Traffic, Environment, Sensors and 3D-Visualization
- Impressive 3D-visualization of your DYNA4 simulations
- Comprehensive and user-extensible object library with signs, vehicles, cyclists, pedestrians, animals, etc.
- Driving on OpenDRIVE road networks without conversion
- Deterministic traffic to create specific scenarios with prescribed behavior, e.g. NCAP
- Stochastic yet reproducible traffic for explorative testing, e.g. driving on highway in dense traffic
- Sensor simulation on decision level with object lists or on perception level with signals from camera, lidar, radar or ultrasonic sensors
Integration, Workflows and Connectivity
- Powerful model and scenario authoring in DYNA4 Studio
- Open and modular model architecture based on MATLAB/Simulink
- Comprehensive DYNA4 model component libraries
- Seamless integration of your Simulink models, FMUs or C-code
- Flexible integration into your work processes and tools
- DYNA4 as master for your simulation tool chain
- DYNA4 as slave with headless operation in your common work environment
- Open-loop and closed-loop simulation
- Integrated test automation and parameter variation
- Standard interfaces e.g. for CANoe, FMU, ROS and ADTF
- Integrated versioning and teamwork functionality
- Model, data and results management
- Continuous re-use of your tests from MIL, SIL to HIL
- Support of all common HIL platforms
Highlights of DYNA4 R6
Improved physics-based sensor models
Physical scene lighting parameters
High dynamic range camera images
Non-uniform angular resolution of lidar sensors
Leap in visual quality with new render pipeline
Modular control unit structure for easier integration of custom functions and more flexible composition of new vehicle models
Extended ASAM OpenDRIVE support
New road viewer for analysis and route editing
Road network generation including junctions
US road signs
Chinese road signs
Extended ASAM OSI support
Object-based sensors output OSI messages
New lane detection sensor outputs OSI messages
Consideration of the OSI PROJ string for geo-referencing
Improved workflows and usability
Improved data management of model parameters and result data
Easier signal manipulation with externally available signal modifiers and dynamic signal sources
New progress view about pending operations and simulation job progress with cancellation options
Strengthened Python integration with dedicated editor and many pre-installed modules
Many re-worked user interfaces including filter boxes, tooltips and other convenience features
Many new examples for models and parameter sets
Standards for Virtual Test Drives
In light of increasingly complex driving functions and their networking in the vehicle, simulation has become a standard tool from function development to validation. But how can virtual test drives be used flexibly and sustainably across disciplines? Standards such as OpenDRIVE, OpenSCENARIO, OSI, FMI, and MDF are important cornerstones in the area of system integration, data management, and test evaluation.
In our technical article "Standards for Virtual Test Drives" (Hanser Automotive Issue 6/2020) we explain how the consistent use of standards enables the reuse of virtual test drives continuously along the entire development process.
Product Information
- Short overview of DYNA4 product facts (PDF)
- ADAS testing: Closed-loop testing of ADAS functions with simulation models for vehicles, surrounding traffic, environment and sensors.
- Sensor simulation: Environment perception with virtual cameras, lidar, radar, ultrasound sensors and object lists in virtual test drives with DYNA4
- ADAS HIL system: Closed-loop system tests with consistent workflows in the Vector tool chain, from early development stages to HIL testing.
- Fuel cell simulation: The fuel cell simulation model in DYNA4 has been successfully used to minimize consumption in a hydrogen-powered vehicle
- HIL validation of automotive radar sensors: Vector together with Rohde & Schwarz present a HIL system for testing of real radar sensor units in open-loop or closed-loop
- Radar sensor over-the-air testing: Closed-loop set-up with DYNA4 and ASGARD from UniqueSec
- DYNA4 release overview: Version history with the highlights of new developments in DYNA4
- Highlights of DYNA4 R6: ASAM OSI, Sensor simulation and HD Render Pipeline
- Highlights of DYNA4 R5: Support of standards and easier workflows
- Highlights of DYNA 4.0: New productizing and a range of model improvements
Do you have technical questions? Our knowledge base provides important FAQs for you.
Training
DYNA4 Training Courses

DYNA4 offers various possibilities to efficiently develop ECU functions through virtual test drives. But only those who know all these options can fully exploit the potential and save time and money.
Therefore, use our training courses to use DYNA4 even more efficiently in your everyday work!