Skip to main navigation Skip to main content Skip to page footer

CarMaker

The simulation solution for virtual test driving

Our CarMaker simulation solution is specially designed for the development and end-to-end testing of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles across all development stages (MIL, SIL, HIL and VIL). The open integration and testing platform enables virtual test scenarios for Autonomous Vehicles, ADAS, Powertrain, and Vehicle Dynamics. The high-resolution 3D visualization tool ensures photorealistic quality, and existing tool environments can be easily integrated through a wide range of supported standards and interfaces.

Your benefits at a glance

Significant time, cost and material savings

Reduced physical testing efforts

High usability

Easy integration in existing tool landscapes

End-to-end workflows

Continuous use across all development stages

Rapid and easy scalability

Parallelized tests and cloud-based applications for broader test coverage

Who benefits from CarMaker?

  • OEMs, suppliers, and other organizations aiming to virtualize their development processes to reduce costs and accelerate development timelines
  • Developing engineers who 
    • perform virtual tests of critical scenarios to ensure extensive test coverage
    • conduct safety validations to guarantee reliable and safe systems
    • test system integration and interoperability within the vehicle’s system networks
    • develop new vehicle components or systems and want to test, verify and validate them
    • optimize system functions, such as those of damper systems for chassis or steering systems

What is CarMaker?

  • CarMaker is a simulation solution for the development of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles
  • CarMaker uses virtual test drives specifically for the end-to-end development, calibration, testing, and validation of components or entire systems in realistic scenarios
  • CarMaker can be used across all development stages (MIL, SIL, HIL and VIL), providing reproducible and comparable test environments at each stage
  • CarMaker is an open integration platform for testing and development that allows you to expand your simulation capabilities through its many interfaces

How CarMaker can support you

  • Automated test procedures in MIL, SIL, HIL, and VIL, with the option to run various test catalogs in parallel
  • Extensive portfolio of ideal, phenomenological, and physical sensor models for verifying and validating ADAS and autonomous driving systems
  • Photorealistic test conditions, including weather effects, for testing ADAS-related sensors
  • Use of adaptive driver models combined with complex and detailed road and environmental models, including road users such as pedestrians, to test functions in safety-critical situations 
  • Setup and use of detailed, real-time capable virtual prototypes (digital twins) for hybrid, electric, and conventional combustion engine vehicles
  • Vehicle dynamics of commercial vehicles, e.g. through coupling trucks with multiple trailers
  • Various options for data analysis and assessment

Which CarMaker variant fits your needs?

Whether you want to use CarMaker in the cloud, on your PC or on a HIL system, discover the CarMaker variant that matches your workflow and application requirements best.

Who benefits from CarMaker Core?What is CarMaker Core?Why CarMaker Office?
  • Validation teams running large regression and scenario-based test campaigns
  • Verification and validation engineers in need of automated simulation execution
  • DevOps and CI/CD teams integrating virtual validation into software development pipelines
  • Cloud and infrastructure teams managing scalable simulation environments
  • Vehicle software development teams seeking rapid feedback through continuous simulation-based verification

CarMaker Core is a headless environment of the CarMaker simulation solution. It provides all essential capabilities required to execute simulations without a graphical user interface or interactive tools, making it ideally suited for automation, cloud deployment and large-scale virtual validation.

CarMaker Core is optimized for deployment across:

  • Docker containers
  • Kubernetes environments
  • Private and public cloud infrastructures
  • High-performance computing (HPC) clusters
  • CI/CD pipelines
  • CarMaker Office, Extended, HIL and Testbed for automated simulation execution
  • Built for automation
    Simulation becomes a fully automated part of the software development lifecycle, integrating naturally into CI/CD workflows and automated testing frameworks
  • Designed for cloud
    Focuses solely on runtime execution for efficient use of resources and scalable deployment in cloud-native infrastructures
  • Accelerated validation
    Runs thousands of simulations in parallel to dramatically reduce validation turnaround times and deliver faster feedback to development teams
  • Optimized infrastructure efficiency
    Minimizes resource consumption and maximizes computing efficiency for large simulation campaigns by removing interactive components and GUI dependencies
  • Foundation for scalable solutions
    Execution backbone for advanced orchestration solutions enabling organizations to manage and scale simulation workloads

Who benefits from CarMaker Office?What is CarMaker Office?Why CarMaker Office?
  • Automotive software developers and system engineers
  • Validation and testing teams working on vehicle subsystems
  • Engineers developing and testing virtual ECUs (Level 1)
  • Organizations in early-stage development where no hardware integration is yet required

CarMaker Office is a purely virtual simulation environment for the development, testing and validation of vehicle subsystems and software-based controllers.

It provides high-fidelity models of:

  • Vehicle dynamics
  • Powertrain systems
  • Driver behavior
  • Road and traffic environments

It enables:

  • Execution of interface tools for CarMaker
  • Operation of the virtual vehicle environment
  • Deployment on standard host systems (Windows/Linux) or in containerized cloud environments
  • High flexibility
    Runs locally or in the cloud, supporting scalable and distributed workflows without real-time hardware dependency
  • Flexible simulation speed
    Operates without strict real-time constraints, allowing simulations to run faster or slower than real time depending on computational performance and user needs
  • Early development
    Ideal for rapid prototyping, algorithm development and virtual ECU validation before hardware is available
  • Third-party openness
    Integration with tools such as Synopsys Silver, Vector CANoe and Tracetronic ecu.test for seamless toolchain interoperability
  • Standard-driven
    Supports key industry standards including FMI, ASAM XIL and ASAM OpenX (OpenSCENARIO, OpenDRIVE and OSI)

Who benefits from CarMaker Extended?What is CarMaker Extended?Why CarMaker Extended?
  • Automotive system, software and validation engineers
  • Teams requiring integrated simulation with models and communication layers
  • Engineers working with virtual and real bus systems
  • Users in need of soft real-time or deterministic setups depending on the use case

CarMaker Office Extended is an advanced, fully integrated simulation environment combining:

  • FMI and Simulink model integration
  • CarMaker simulation environment and interface tools
  • Restbus configuration and simulation support
  • Support for virtual bus simulation and real bus communication through USB interfaces (CAN, CAN-FD, Ethernet)
  • USB-based hardware interfaces (PEAK, Vector)
  • Execution in soft real-time environments
  • Virtual bus systems (IPG Automotive, Synopsys, SIL Kit)
  • Advanced restbus simulation
    Enables testing with both virtual and real ECU network communication
  • Soft real-time capability
    Suitable for applications where strict timing is not required
  • Hardware connectivity
    USB interfaces provide practical access to real bus systems without complex HIL setups
  • Advanced vECU testing
    Message-based testing with vECUs up to Level 3 that supports comprehensive validation of distributed functions, including diagnostics and ECU communication behavior

Who benefits from CarMaker HIL?What is CarMaker HIL?Why CarMaker HIL?
  • Automotive ECU, system and validation engineers
  • Teams performing hardware-in-the-loop (HIL) testing
  • Developers validating embedded control units with real hardware
  • Organizations requiring highly accurate, deterministic and safety-critical testing
  • Projects in advanced development and integration phases

CarMaker HIL is a real-time HIL simulation environment to test and validate automotive ECUs and systems with physical hardware in the loop.

CarMaker HIL provides:

  • Integration of real ECUs and hardware components in a closed-loop context
  • Real-time execution based on the CarMaker simulation environment
  • High-fidelity models of:
    • Vehicle dynamics
    • Powertrain systems
    • Driver behaviour
    • Road and traffic environments
  • Deterministic real-time performance ensuring precise synchronization with hardware
  • Safe and controlled laboratory-based testing environment
  • Realistic ECU validation
    Testing of real control units under realistic driving conditions without requiring a physical vehicle
  • Deterministic real-time execution
    Guarantees precise timing and synchronization, critical for safety-relevant systems
  • Platform independent
    CarMaker HIL enables safe and efficient testing across a wide range of platforms such as Xpack, SCALEXIO or NI PXI systems
  • Reproducibility
    Test scenarios can be executed repeatedly for reliable validation and debugging
  • Reduced development risk and cost
    Identifies issues early before vehicle prototypes are available

Who benefits from CarMaker Testbed?What is CarMaker Testbed?Why CarMaker Testbed?
  • Powertrain engineers and test bench specialists
  • Teams operating test benches (dynamometer, powertrain)
  • Validation engineers in powertrain system testing
  • Organizations requiring efficient and automated test bench workflows

CarMaker Testbed is a specialized simulation solution for powertrain test bench applications built on top of CarMaker HIL.

It provides:

  • Real-time, deterministic simulation with all core capabilities of CarMaker HIL
  • Enhancements tailored to test bench environments:
    • Dyno interface for integration with dynamometers
    • Testbed parameter GUI for intuitive parameter configuration
    • Testbed wizard for guided setup and configuration
    • RDX Test Generator for automated generation of test cases
  • Optimized workflows for powertrain testing and validation
  • Built for test benches
    Specifically tailored to powertrain and dyno-based validation
  • Enhanced usability and efficiency
    Dedicated tools simplify setup, execution and configuration
  • Automation of testing workflows
    RDX Test Generator enables scalable and repeatable testing
  • Seamless HIL extension
    Based on proven real-time and deterministic simulation capabilities
  • Improved productivity
    Reduces manual effort and speeds up test execution cycles

Enhance CarMaker with powerful add-ons

CarMaker can be seamlessly extended with a wide range of add-ons. Whether you are looking to simulate highly realistic RSI sensors, generate RDE tests, NCAP scenarios or assessment criteria: Our add-ons help overcome development challenges efficiently and can be tailored to your specific use cases and requirements.

Discover add-ons

Are you interested?

Contact us now and book a consultation with our team.

 

Book consultation now