The development of computationally efficient and validated single-track vehicle-rider models has traditionally required handcrafted one-off models. Here we introduce BRiM, a software package that facilitates building these models in a modular fashion while retaining access to the mathematical elements for handcrafted modeling when desired. We demonstrate the flexibility of the software by constructing the Carvallo-Whipple bicycle model with different numerical parameters representing different bicycles, modifying it with a front fork suspension travel model, and extending it with moving rider arms driven by joint torques at the elbows. Using these models we solve a lane-change optimal control problem for six different model variations which solve in mere seconds on a modern laptop. Our tool enables flexible and rapid modeling of single-track vehicle-rider models that give precise results at high computational efficiency.
Stienstra, T., Brockie, S. & Moore, J. (2023). BRiM: A Modular Bicycle-Rider Modeling Framework [version 1; peer review: 1 minor revision, 1 accepted]. The Evolving Scholar - BMD 2023, 5th Edition. https://doi.org/10.59490/6504c5a765e8118fc7b106c3