An excellently equipped system for developing new propulsion concepts is available to engineers at the Institute of Vehicle Concepts. The climate controllable all-wheel roller rig with exhaust analysis is designed for passenger motor vehicles of all classes as well as small transporters. With its variety of functions, it is considered unique worldwide.
The all-wheel roller rig at the DLR is suitable for both vehicles with conventional drive systems and for those with hydrogen or natural gas drive systems. It is thus possible to develop new concepts for future vehicle drives under the most modern conditions at the DLR Institute of Vehicle Concepts in Stuttgart. Basic research tasks such as the verification of newly conceived or simulated technologies for alternative energy conversion and the interactive networking of energy storage units in the power train can now be taken on.
The roller rig also stands ready for partners from industry. In the roller rig, the vehicle drives can be investigated for the most varied imaginable driving cycles relative to their energy efficiency and emissions behaviour during actual operation. Here scientists can reproduce driving resistances on different streets, simulate trips under load, adjust acceleration behaviour, or reproduce exhaust cycles such as an automobile's cold-start behaviour.The DLR roller rig is the world's first having construction equipped with explosion protection that is both designed for all-wheel operation and features exhaust analysis, liquid and gaseous fuel consumption measurement and supply, as well as climate control. The roller rig simulates driving conditions for front, rear, or all-wheel drive concepts and for hybrid vehicles.
Due to the explosion protection, the test rig is also approved for vehicles with gaseous fuels such as hydrogen or natural gas. The climate concept enables the roller rig to be operated at constant temperature in a range from minus 40 degrees Celsius to plus 60 degrees Celsius. The maximum possible speed at which vehicles can be tested is 200 kilometres per hour. The system is also equipped with a speed-regulated air stream. The sum of these technical parameters makes the roller rig at the Institute of Vehicle Concepts unique with regard to the variety of test possibilities.