Applies to v0.1.0.
Vehicle dynamics
This page describes the default RC car, the vehicle you get when you pick the 1/10 Platform in Configuration. Its numbers match the real car, so what you tune here behaves the same on the bench.
The model, in plain words
The simulated car is a bicycle model with real actuator behaviour. A bicycle model treats the car as one front wheel that steers and one rear wheel that drives. It is the standard simplification for cars, and accurate at this scale. On top of it, the parts that make a real RC car feel like a real RC car:
| Property | Value | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| Wheelbase | 165.7 mm | The distance between the axles — it sets how sharply the car turns for a given steering angle |
| Maximum steering angle | 26° each way | The front wheels physically stop here; asking for more does nothing |
| Steering speed | up to 80°/s | The servo takes ~0.3 s to swing from straight to full lock — steering is never instant |
| Speed response | time constant 0.25 s | The car eases toward the speed you command instead of jumping to it |
| Command delay | 80 ms | Every command takes this long to reach the wheels, like the real control path |
/ego/cmd_applied reports where the wheels and throttle actually are, so you can compare what you asked for with what the car did.
Change the car while it runs
Open the menu bar → Setting → Vehicle; the Vehicle Settingpanel opens. The car's speed and steering limits are adjustable there while the simulation is running. No restart. The speed ceiling you set is the one every control channel is clamped to (see Vehicle control: commands above it saturate silently).
Why not full physics
Tyre slip and suspension models earn their cost on a full-size car. At this scale the forces are small enough that the bicycle model reproduces the real car's path, without the instability and tuning burden a full physics model brings.