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Kinematic Designer

I created this tool as a proof-of-concept to accelerate suspension geometry iteration through real-time kinematic simulation and geometric constraint solving. The tool provides an interactive environment for analyzing and visualizing suspension behavior.

For this prototype, the focus is on bump steer analysis, but the underlying framework can be easily extended to all traditional kinematic metrics such as camber gain, roll center migration, and instant center tracking.

Interactive Kinematics

An interactive visualization plots toe angle versus bump and droop travel, allowing users to dynamically adjust tie-rod length and Z-offset to observe the resulting effects. This setup promotes rapid iteration and an intuitive understanding of linkage configurations.

Behind the scenes, the tool simulates a double-wishbone suspension, recalculating geometry at each iteration using three-sphere and circle intersection algorithms. Toe angle is derived from the knuckle plane normal vector, providing real-time feedback as parameters change.

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Kinematics Parameter Sweep

Expanding on the interactive module, this feature introduces a parameter optimization algorithm that identifies suspension geometries closely matching user-defined performance targets, such as desired bump steer, while maintaining geometric constraints.

In the example shown, the blue "desired" curve represents the user's target. The solver then produces the closest feasible match through weighted error minimization. In this example, I use a 2:1 bump-to-droop weight ratio to illustrate how to adjust relative priorities. These weights are fully tunable, allowing designers to tailor kinematics to specific design goals.

The framework is also extensible, supporting additional parameters such as knuckle connection points or control arm pivots, and can be expanded for optimization across multiple kinematic metrics.

DesiredResult

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