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FAQ Version 7 Specific All Versions Downloads Examples Median Barrier Crash Motorcycle Visualization |
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FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions - All Versions This page answers common questions submitted to our Technical Support Engineers by HVE and HVE-2D Users. These FAQ's are also listed in the FAQ Sections of quarterly EDC Technical Newsletters, available in the Library of this website. The Technical Newsletters provide tips on how to use HVE and HVE-2D efficiently and even basic technical advice.
Browse through the Questions until you find your situation or topic of interest and then click on the link at the end of the question to proceed directly to the answer. If you have a problem not addressed below, please refer to the Technical Support page of this website for further assistance.
QUESTIONS (sorted by category):
Recent Issues
Installation Issues
Computer Issues
User Interface
Physics Programs
ANSWERS:
Will HVE and HVE-2D work on the new Windows 7 operating system? HVE and HVE-2D are compatible with Windows XP and Vista operating systems, so there are not any expected problems with running on Windows 7. However, as with any new operating system, the support for hardware such as graphics cards and their drivers always seem to lag the initial release. If you experience unexpected behaviors such as random crashes when using HVE on Windows 7, we recommend that you attempt to update your graphics driver or set your Hardware Acceleration to "None". Additional recommendations about the installation location are provided in the response below. Are there any issues when installing my HVE (or HVE-2D) on a computer with the Windows Vista operating system? If you are not the sole Administrative User on a computer using any version of Windows Vista, we strongly recommend that you install HVE or HVE-2D into a location other than the default Program Files folder that has been typically used for Windows XP installations. One of Vista's security features makes it very difficult to locate the case files and simulation movie files you create while using HVE. Here' s a description of the security feature and how it affects users: Vista strongly protects the Program Files folder against unauthorized writing or creating of files. The user of an application that needs to write into any folder within the Program Files location must have administrative privileges for the program to function as expected. However, Vista will allow a user without administrative privileges to run the application using a feature called File and Registry Virtualization. This feature redirects the writes and subsequent reads to a user "virtual store" located within the user's profile. This feature tricks the application into thinking they are still running with full administrative privileges, but simply redirects the reads and writes elsewhere. For example, in HVE, the case files are usually placed in C:\Program Files\HVE\supportFiles\case. If the user does not have administrative privileges, then HVE will not write to this folder, and the write will get redirected to C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\ProgramFiles\HVE\supportFiles\case, with the username being the currently logged on user ID. However, in HVE, all file browsers will appear to be looking in C:\Program Files\HVE\supportFiles\case, but when outside of HVE, a file browser will not show your new files in that location. Users can look for the new files in the VirtualStore directory, which is hidden by default. To make your file browser find these redirected files, simply press the Compatibility Files button on Windows Explorer or any Explorer Shell Window. Note that the Compatibility Files button will only appear when there is a virtual version of a file related to the current directory. Once pressed, the user will be taken to the virtual store location to view all redirected files. I am able to view my custom vehicles with their custom geometries in the Vehicle Editor, but when I go to the Event Editor, the vehicle custom geometry is replaced with a generic image. How can I get this to work properly? There are two possible reasons for this behavior. First, make sure that your vehicle geometry file is located in the supportFiles/images/vehicles directory. Second, make sure that the vehicle geometry filename is shorter than 26 characters plus the .h3d extension. Previous versions (pre-5.20) allowed vehicle geometry filenames longer than 26 characters + .h3d so you may have older case files that now exhibit this behavior. The solution is to simply shorten the filename of your custom vehicle geometry and then reapply the geometry to your vehicle in the Vehicle Editor. Your case will work once again as expected. Every now and then I find that the X-Y crosshair (dragger) manipulator for positioning a vehicle in the Event Editor disappears. If I move the camera inside the vehicle, I find that the manipulator is still present at the CG of the vehicle, but has become extremely small. What can I do to fix this issue? This issue may be due to the combination of your graphics card and your use of a vehicle geometry, an environment geometry or even a case file located on another computer across your network. One solution is to simply relocate the geometry files or case files onto your local computer hard drive. If you are not able to relocate those files, then the solution is to first start HVE (or HVE-2D) and create a simple event where you position a vehicle. For example, add a Generic Class 1 Passenger Car and then create a simple event with the vehicle at 0,0 at a speed of 30 mph (or kph). This action uses only local files and will establish the proper behavior for the manipulator and your graphics card. Then you can continue using this instance of HVE (or HVE-2D) for your specific case requirements. What are the recommended computer requirements? Our Technical Support Engineers have been collecting information about HVE users computer hardware configurations. From this information, we are able to provide the following recommendation for computer configurations that should provide good HVE application performance. (NOTE: Your experience may vary, depending on other software and accessories installed on your computer.) Here is a recommendation for selecting a computer for running HVE: Configuration: Operating System:
Example 1: Dell Dimension E520 with Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor, 1 GB RAM, 256MB nVidia Geforce graphics card and Windows XP operating system Example 2: Dell 390 Workstation with Dual-Core Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 2 GB RAM, NVIDIA Quadro graphics card and Windows XP operating system *If you have any questions regarding a specific make or model of computer or graphics card, please contact EDC Customer Service directly. I am seeing unexpected behaviors such as random program crashes, dialogs with parts missing or not being displayed at all, or parts of an environment model not being displayed properly in some editors. How can I correct this? These odd behaviors are caused by the graphics driver on your computer not fully supporting OpenGL applications. From our internal process of tracking and analyzing technical support calls, we have been able to clearly identify that some graphics card drivers do not support full graphics acceleration or performance boost settings for running engineering visualization programs such as HVE and HVE-2D. Even though their graphics cards/computers are relatively new and identified as OpenGL compliant, some users have reported experiencing odd behaviors of the program, especially when displaying highly-detailed, highly-texture mapped environment models. If you experience this behavior, follow the steps below to work-around and/or
permanently fix your graphics driver problem: Work-Around: Reduce your Hardware Acceleration (95, 98, Me), Performance Boost (NT) or Troubleshooting (2000, XP, Vista) setting down to None Permanent Solution
Even if you recently purchased a brand new computer, you may find that an updated graphics driver is available. It can often take several months for the production configuration of the computer to be updated, so don't overlook the possibility that a new graphics driver may have been released since the configuration of your computer was established.
I've been able to make real-time simulation movies using the Playback Window, but how do I make a slow motion movie? At this time, the movies created using HVE or HVE-2D will only play in real-time. If you change the output time interval in the Playback Editor from the default of 0.0333 (1/30 of a second) to 0.0167 (1/60 of a second), twice as many "frames" of the movie will be recorded which provides greater resolution of the motion, however the movie will still play back in real-time. The movie player will play movies recorded with 30 frames per second at 30 frames per second and movies recorded at 60 frames per second at 60 frames per second.The solution is to use a non-linear editing program such as Adobe Premier, Sony Vegas or Windows Movie Maker to modify the Clip Speed Rate of the movie file. You would simply import the avi file, adjust the Clip Speed to 50% and the movie would then display the motion of the 60 frames per second movie at 30 frames per second. You have just made a slow-motion movie of your simulation!
How can I get my DXF line drawing completely into HVE-2D? Please follow these recommendations to prepare your line drawing in AutoCAD (if you are using a different program than AutoCAD, you may still be able to use these same recommendations):
Other useful tools to create 2D line drawings in AutoCAD are ARCS, RECTANGLES, and CIRCLES. (Tools to avoid are NORMAL LINES, BLOCKS, or X-REFS)
If after carefully following all of the recommendations you are not able to import the DXF file into HVE-2D as expected, then EDC may be able to help with some additional translation. You will need to provide EDC with your drawing file in an AutoCAD R12 DXF format. Please contact EDC Technical Support for assistance.
If you are using a line drawing, what you see as the background color of the drawing is actually the Sky of the environment. If you don't want to deal with creating a surface and assigning colors in the 3D Editor, you can simply import your line drawing and set the Sky color to be the color of the "road". This can be done in the Environment Information dialog when adding a new environment. Press the button for Sky Attributes, then Set Sky Color, and then set your color using the color wheel. To get a nice grey road click on the center of the color wheel and then drag the color intensity slider down to about 0.5.
When the software starts, the license manager checks for a valid license file. If a license file is not found or if the license file is not validated properly, then you will receive this message. If you believe you have a license properly installed on your computer, try the following steps to troubleshoot the installation:
In releases prior to HVE (HVE-2D) Version 6.00, EDSMAC4 required that the user must set connection elevations relative to the ground to be within 1 inch of each other for connected vehicles. In Version 6.00, an AutoConnect functionality is available in the Calculation Options dialog that automatically adjusts the connection heights between the vehicles according to the setting. If you are using and older version and have problems getting your vehicles heights to match, here are some helpful steps to quickly check and edit inter-vehicle connection heights:
I am editing the exterior dimensions of a vehicle from the EDVDB vehicle database and I do not see the geometry file scaling to match the new positions of the red spheres indicating the exterior dimensions of the vehicle. Why? The exterior geometry of a vehicle from the EDVDB database is an exact 3D model of an actual vehicle made by physically recording the vehicle using a digitizer. This geometry is not resizable and cannot be edited within the Vehicle Editor, except for changing the color of the vehicle. When you edit the exterior dimensions of the vehicle by clicking on the red spheres and changing the values, you are changing the values of the dataset for the vehicle, but you are not editing the geometry mesh. If you edit the exterior dimensions of a Generic vehicle, you will see that the generic geometry does scale to match your new dimensions. This is because the generic vehicle body is drawn by HVE.
I’ve been working on the main collisions of my multiple vehicle crash simulation, but now I want to add an additional vehicle to my EDSMAC4 event? Is this possible?
No. When you first created the event, you selected all of the objects that would be allowed in the event. You cannot add or remove any vehicles from the event. However, you have two possible choices to consider. One is to recreate your entire event and add the additional vehicle initially. The other is to add an additional event with only the new vehicle and then combine the Traj Sim sequences together in the Playback Window to complete your sequence.
I remember back in the EDVAP days that the manual said to select the smaller vehicle first for an EDSMAC event. Does this still hold true for the latest versions of EDSMAC and EDSMAC4? The answer is yes. When the collision algorithm is initialized, a temporary coordinate system is established from the first vehicle viewing the second vehicle. This "view" establishes the total possible damage width on the first vehicle, and therefore, the total number of collision ("RHO") vectors. More RHO vectors means better resolution is possible in the collision algorithm. These RHO vectors are ultimately used to calculate the forces and moments on the vehicle, as well as to define the damage profile. The effect on the results is normally rather small when the vehicles are approximately the same size. However, as the size difference increases it becomes more important to choose the first vehicle as the smaller vehicle. An extreme example is a vehicle vs. tree impact: The tree should be entered as the first vehicle. Note that in a multiple-vehicle-collision using EDSMAC4, it is not always possible to follow this rule. When I use the HVE Path Follower, my vehicle does not go toward the target vehicle. Why not? The HVE Path Follower allows the user to specify a desired vehicle path and attempts to force the vehicle, subject to the constraints of physics, to drive through those targets. Sometimes the vehicle cannot match the path because the maneuver is simply impossible for the vehicle or the driver or both. Other times, however, the vehicle may not follow the path because it does not "see" where it is intended to go. The HVE Path Follower uses the user-editable value of Driver Preview Time (Driver Controls, Path Follower, Driver Data) to specify how far ahead, in time, the simulated driver should look for the path. The default value is 1 second. Imagine that you want to drive in a circle at 55 mph. How far will you travel in 1 second? 80 feet. That means that at any timestep the model will ignore anything happening for the next 80 feet. It is therefore recommended that, instead of beginning the simulation right on the circle, you begin the simulation on a tangent to the circle about 80 feet away. Then the vehicle and driver will have plenty of time to ease into the turn.
When using EDCRASH, what is the difference between the Delta-V displayed in the Event Editor Damage Profiles dialog and the value in the Accident History output report? The Delta-V value displayed in the Damage Profiles dialog is the Delta-V that would have caused the entered damage had the vehicle hit a rigid barrier. Because the barrier would completely stop the vehicle, this is also the barrier equivalent velocity (or energy equivalent speed). The Delta-V values reported in the Accident History report are the values computed by EDCRASH for the vehicle-to-vehicle collision. This calculation is based on either damage data or linear momentum, depending on the data that you entered and the details of the collision. Because the vehicle that you hit is neither rigid nor stationary, this value of Delta-V will always be lower than the barrier-based Delta-V.
Why is it that when I try to do a rollover in EDVSM, the body of the vehicle falls right through the environment geometry as if it wasn't there? This problem is a common occurrence when running your first rollover event. To enable vehicle body to environment interaction, EDVSM requires that you activate the feature "Vehicle Body vs. Environment Contact". This feature can be activated by going to Options, Calculation Options, and then checking the box next to Vehicle Body vs. Environment Contact. Why do I get an error message asking for PDOFs to be assigned in EDCRASH, when I've already entered them in the Damage Profiles dialog? Chances are that when you entered in the damage profiles for the vehicles in this event, you activated the Newton's 3rd Law feature on both vehicles. Clicking on this check box causes EDCRASH to calculate the PDOF for the selected vehicle based on the vehicles' impact heading angles and the PDOF of the other vehicle. This is a convenient way to assign the PDOF for one vehicle. YOU CANNOT USE THIS CHECK BOX FOR BOTH VEHICLES! How do you position a non-moving vehicle in an EDSMAC/EDSMAC4 event without getting an "Event Termination: No Vehicle Velocities Assigned," message when you try to execute the event? The key to answering this question is that you must do exactly what the message is asking you to do: You must assign a velocity to the non-moving vehicle. Since we want this to be a non-moving vehicle, all we have to do is assign the vehicles velocity to be zero (0). Then when you execute the event, the vehicle will stay put just as you assigned.
I used to run my HVE (HVE-2D) software using an EDKEY on a Windows XP computer. I just upgraded my operating system to Windows Vista on the same computer and now I get a licensing error message that limits me to only run in Demo Mode. It used to work before I upgraded to Windows Vista, what happened? HVE (HVE-2D) is probably not the only program that you will have problems running when you upgrade from Windows XP to Vista. However, we do have a solution that fixes this problem. The utility program that allows HVE to communicate with the EDKEY needs to be uninstalled and reinstalled. Use the Windows Add/Remove Programs function to uninstall the Sentinel System Driver or Sentinel Protection Installer. When that is complete, you can simply reinstall your HVE (HVE-2D) software, which includes the Sentinel System Driver in the installation. Can I make a QuickTime format movie directly from the Playback Window? No. The Playback Window produces an AVI format movie. If you need to produce a different format of movie, such as QuickTime or mpeg, you need to convert the movie using a movie editing program such as Adobe Premier or others. I have a 16 second simulation run, but I only want to make a movie of the action from t = 5 seconds to t = 13.6 seconds. I’ve tried moving the slider to select the correct starting frame, but when I change the Destination to AVI and press the Play button to begin recording, the sequence starts from the beginning t = 0 . Do I have to use an external movie editing program, or can I somehow do this within the Playback Window?
You can do this within the Playback Window. What you need to do is to play the sequence forward from the beginning to the point where you want it to start recording. (Don’t try to use the slider to set it to a starting frame). Press the Pause button to stop the sequence and then change your render settings (if desired). Change the Destination to AVI and press the Play button. Your movie will begin recording from that frame forward. When you reach the point where you want to stop the recording, press the Pause button and change your Destination back to the Playback Window. When you view your AVI, you will see that you have recorded the exact sequence you wanted to. I made a simulation movie of a 15 second event. I then transferred the AVI file to a CD and gave it to my client to play on his computer. When he tried to play the movie directly off the CD, the cars motions were very jerky and it did not play in real time. What happened? Your movie file from a 15 second simulation is probably quite large. If you try to play it directly from the CD, the limitation of the data transfer rate from the CD to the computer can cause the movie to play slower than real time and appear to stutter. To overcome this, just have your client copy the movie to their hard drive and play the movie directly from there. The data transfer rate will be much faster and the movie will play as expected. I have made a simulation movie and I want to display it full screen on my computer. When I do play it full screen, it appears fuzzy and "blocky". I have checked the properties of the AVI file and it is only 640 x 480 resolution. Can I increase the size to better match my screen resolution, which is set to 1280 x 1024? At this time, the answer is no. The size of the movie file produced from the Playback Window has been set to 640 x 480, which is formatted for NTSC video standards. Since most presentations of simulation movies were made using VCR's, this format was suitable for a time. However, with the increase in popularity of DVD and computer based media presentations, the request for sizes other than 640 x 480 has grown. In the short term, you could try to convert the 640 x 480 AVI movie file to other sizes and formats using editing programs like Adobe Premier. However, you will most likly lose some image quality depending upon the changes you make. I have just installed the new Version 7.00 update and now when I try to run it, I get a message that reads Application is Node Locked". My 6.20 software worked just fine and I've never seen this message before. What happened? You must use a license file that matches the version of the software you are trying to run. If you didn't install the new license file for the update, then you are trying to run the new version with an old license. You will get the error message that the "Application is Node Locked", meaning that you don't have a proper license file and the program will only operate in Demo Mode. Did you remember to install the new license file that was included with your Version 7.00 update?
I need to simulate an accident involving a vehicle with a steerable rear axle. How can I change my selected vehicle to have a steerable rear axle? A: To change from the default front steering axle to a rear steering axle, follow these steps: 1. Display the vehicle in the Vehicle Editor and click on the green steering wheel/column icon displayed inside the car on the driver's side of the vehicle. In the dialog that appears, note the drop down list at the top indicating Steering Data for and the field next to it indicating Axle 1 . 2. To disable the front axle steering, uncheck the check box for Steerable Axle for Axle 1. Note that the data fields below are now greyed out. 3. Now change the drop down list to read Axle 2 and check the check box for Steerable Axle. Note that the data field below for Steering Gear Ratio is now enabled. YOU MUST ENTER an appropriate steering gear ratio for this axle, rather than leaving the default value of 0.00. If you do not enter a non-zero number, you will immediately receive an error message when you try to run an event using this vehicle. You also need to make sure the Suspension Type of this rear axle is shown as Solid Axle, rather than Independent.
4. Click OK to close the dialog and accept your change from the front steering axle to a rear steering axle.
5. Set-up and run your simulation. When entering Driver Controls for steering, note that your inputs in the tables are now indicated for Axle 2.
How do I start my simulation with the vehicle traveling in reverse? Total Velocity is actually the absolute value of the velocity of the vehicle and therefore will not allow a negative value. The u component of the velocity of the vehicle is the one that reflects the direction of vehicle travel. In order to simulate a vehicle traveling backwards at the start, you will need to enter a -180 value for Sideslip which results in a negative value displayed in the u velocity field.
I'm trying to accelerate a vehicle in reverse in EDSMAC (or EDSMAC4, EDSVS or EDVTS). I can get the vehicle to start with an initial velocity backwards, but when I provide throttle inputs the vehicle changes direction and starts accelerating forwards instead of accelerating in reverse. What do I do?
In the physics programs EDSVS, EDVTS, EDSMAC and EDSMAC4, the throttle inputs are for forward acceleration of the vehicle. That forward acceleration input overcomes the initial rearward velocity of the vehicle and results in the vehicle changing direction and accelerating in the forward direction. In the physics programs EDVSM, EDVDS and SIMON, the user can use the drivetrain model to put the transmission of the vehicle into reverse, so that any throttle inputs (at the pedal) result in the vehicle accelerating in reverse.
How do I properly install HVE on my computer? Installation instructions were included with your manuals when you received your software. If you've misplaced them, you can download another copy using this link - Installation Instructions. The two most important steps in the installation are: 1) You MUST remove your EDKEY before starting the installation, and 2) You MUST select a license file that matches the version of software being installed during the installation (your license file is most likely on the CD being used for the installation).
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