MicroSIM

Research Project, 2026 – 2027

Micromobility may be the solution to many environmental, technological, economic, and societal challenges in today’s transport system. However, micromobility is less evolved and understood than motorized vehicle transport. For instance, the dynamics of micromobility vehicles have not been studied and modelled as much as the ones of cars and trucks. Similarly, rider behavior is less understood than driver behavior. Filling this gap of knowledge may help micromobility express its full potential and become widely adopted.

History and economy can easily explain why micromobility research lags compared to motorized-vehicle research and why test facilities for bicycles and e-scooters are less available than for cars and trucks. As an example, driving simulators are an established tool for the development and evaluation of vehicle dynamics and in-vehicle systems. Bicycle simulators are still in their infancy, though. It also turns out that bicycle simulators are harder to build than driving simulators because the additional balancing task creates significant engineering challenges that did not need a solution before.

In this project, we will create a test environment where all types of (real) micromobility vehicles may be ridden within a cooperative virtual world while preserving the full realism of the balancing task. We will achieve this at a minimal cost, because we will leverage our educational activities and old investments that Chalmers have already made for a different purpose. Finally, this test environment will enable new research at Chalmers across several departments and far beyond transport.