RFactor_Pro

<i>rFpro</i>

rFpro

Driving simulation software


rFpro, originally rFactor Pro, is a driving simulation software used by racing teams and car manufacturers for advanced driver-assistance systems, self-driving cars and vehicle dynamics. rFactor Pro was created in 2007 as a project of a F1 racing team, using Image Space Incorporated's rFactor as a codebase.[1] It has since been used by more F1 racing teams, top road car OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and motorsport manufacturers.[2] It was originally developed for driver-in-the-Loop simulations,[3] but has since been used for autonomous vehicle training as well. It is not licensed to consumers.[4]

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History

rFactor Pro was created in 2007 as a project of a F1 team, using the rFactor simulator as a codebase,[1] and has since been used by more F1 racing teams,[5][6] including Force India in 2009,[7] Ferrari in 2014[8][9] and Alfa Romeo in 2019.[10]

rFpro is developed by rFpro Limited, based in Wiltshire, UK.[2] In 2017 rFpro acquired Image Space Incorporated's ISIMotor gaming engine, including the gMotor graphics engine, which it had been licensing since 2007.[11] In 2019 rFpro was acquired by AB Dynamics.[10]

In 2020 rFpro partnered with cosin scientific software to enable FTire (Flexible Ring Tire Model) to run with rFpro.[12][13][14]

Features

rFpro features a 120 Hz graphics engine, a library of high definition laser scanned tracks and roads, and an infrastructure in which users can plug their in-house vehicle physics through a Simulink or a C/C++ interface.[15][1][16] Alternatively rFpro rigid multibody physics engine can be used, which samples suspension and drive-train at 800Hz.[17] rFpro includes a tool called TerrainServer, which can feed the LiDAR data with a 1cm resolution to a vehicle model running in realtime up to 5kHz.[3] The library of laser scanned tracks includes most of those used in the F1 championship.[18]

In switching to rFpro for its simulator software in 2014, the Ferrari F1 team cited the high fidelity of the reproduced track surface, with an accuracy better than 1mm in Z (height) and 1cm in X and Y (position), which represented a ten-fold improvement over their previous solution.[8] They also cited the ability to respond to dynamic inputs faster than the driver can detect.

See also


References

  1. rfpro.com/about/, archived on March 4th, 2021
  2. Dempsey, M., Fish, G., & Beltran, J. G. D. (2015) High fidelity multibody vehicle dynamics models for driver-in-the-loop simulators, in Proceedings of the 11th International Modelica Conference, Versailles, France, September 21-23, 2015 (No. 118, pp. 273-280). Linköping University Electronic Press.
  3. Paul Jeffrey rFactor Pro, at racedepartment.com, Jul 4, 2017
  4. When Computer Games meet real world Racing, at racecar-engineering.com, April 5, 2011
  5. AB Dynamics acquires simulation software specialist rFpro, by Autocar Pro News Desk , 02 July 2019
  6. FTire and FTire/link at mathworks.com
  7. Mathews, Albert (2010) Powertrain optimization of a series hybrid racer (thesis), McGill University
  8. Models, at rfactor-pro.com, archived on Feb 15th 2015
  9. Design, Develop, Drive rFactor-Pro. Brochure: 2008.
  10. rFactor Pro – Laser Scanning Heaven, at virtualr.net, July 15, 2011

Further reading


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