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Vehicle dynamics simulation is an essential stage of product development. It is a low cost alternative to the expensive and time-consuming experimental tests performed during the design phase. The ability to accurately predict the dynamics of vehicles can, for instance, provide useful information about their stability characteristics. Yaw instability, in particular, can cause divergent yaw behavior in conventional passenger cars and jackknife in articulated vehicles, like tractor-semitrailer combinations. These instabilities are associated with safety issues since their occurrence can cause accidents with fatal losses, injuries and property damage. Therefore, the development of vehicle models and simulation environments is necessary. This paper presents the open source package Vehicle Dynamics - Lateral.

Vehicle ergonomics, more specifically driver ergonomics, has been the subject of interest in the automotive industry as a way to provide customers vehicles that have more than modern project, efficiency and competitive price. The driver ergonomics is related to the way the driver interacts with the vehicle interior, particularly, with the seat, hand and foot controls, considering aspects such as ease of access, space, proper upper and lower limb motion and drivers comfort and fatigue. Regarding the lower limbs, the driver’s comfort can be evaluated in terms of joint moments and muscle forces, which are influenced by the hip, knee and ankle joint angles, which in turn depend on the distances between the seat and pedal. Variations in seat to pedal horizontal or vertical distances will result in different angular positions and, consequently, different joint moments and muscle forces, which are associated to greater or lower muscular activations and greater or lower driver’s fatigue.