Similar to flight or car simulators, bicycle simulators are an ideal tool for low-risk research, training and communicating visions of the future. However, developers and users of FS and their knowledge are isolated from each other and do not yet reach practical application. The solution is an online portal that provides this knowledge as an open source toolkit and brings together people with different skills to transform bicycle simulators into practical applications.

Transfer problem: Other types of simulators, such as flight or vehicle simulators, are established instruments for research, training and communication. They are already being used intensively in joint projects funded by federal ministries as well as in industry and administration. There are design standards and methodological guidelines to ensure high-quality simulators and valid results. These resources do not yet exist for bicycle simulators. They have therefore hardly been widely used in practice to date. The existing expertise must therefore be combined, standardized and made accessible.

The OpenBikeSim approach is an online portal as a central, growing repository of knowledge and a place for exchange and collaboration. All information on the state of the art with regard to hardware, software and the use of a bicycle simulator is made available there in a structured and openly accessible manner. The physical system includes electromechanics such as the steering and brake modules. The virtual environment includes software modules that simulate the movements of bicyclists, create the scenery and generate interacting road users. An active community is developing as a result of the open source portal, as researchers can implement their results there and users can always call up the current status of development. Coordinated cooperation on distributed, non-linear development processes as already popular in software development generates synergies that make the portal effective and attractive for all interest groups.

The aim of this project is to set up an online portal that provides know-how on the development of bicycle simulators as an open source toolkit and facilitates knowledge transfer by creating a network of people and institutions with different technical expertise in order to transfer bicycle simulators into practical applications.

This project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research under the DATIpilot funding guideline with funding code 03DPS124.

01. September 2024 until 28. February 2026

Univ.-Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heather Kaths
kaths[at]uni-wuppertal.de
+49 (0)202 / 439 4433

M. Sc. Mathis Titgemeyer
titgemeyer[at]uni-wuppertal.de
+49 (0)202 / 439 4154

Further information on the DATIpilot funding guideline can be found on the BMBF website.

https://www.bmbf.de/bmbf/de/forschung/datipilot/datipilot_node.html