On the Application of Engineering Vehicle Simulation
Zero
I want to use the Chrono engine to simulate construction vehicles such as excavators and loaders. Are there any related examples, or which Chrono template should I refer to for developing such simulations, and which modules will be used? 
Dan Negrut
There is a code for a small bulldozer associated with this paper, see the “reproducibility” discussion in the manuscript: https://advanced.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/adrr.202500180. Uses CRM terrain.
In general, it’s good to stick with CRM terrain for this type of applications since it’s pretty fast and pretty accurate.
Dan
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Bernard A. and Frances M. Weideman Professor
NVIDIA CUDA Fellow
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Department of Computer Science
University of Wisconsin - Madison
4150ME, 1513 University Avenue
Madison, WI 53706-1572
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From: projec...@googlegroups.com <projec...@googlegroups.com>
On Behalf Of Zero
Sent: Friday, January 30, 2026 12:39 PM
To: ProjectChrono <projec...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [chrono] On the Application of Engineering Vehicle Simulation
I want to use the Chrono engine to simulate construction vehicles such as excavators and loaders. Are there any related examples, or which Chrono template should I refer to for developing such simulations, and which modules will be used?
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Radu Serban
The “bulldozer” Dan mentions is, as you can see, simply an existing Chrono::Vehicle model with an attached blade.
We do not have any Chrono::Vehicle templates for bulldozers or excavators, mainly because there was never a project to support this development. Theoretically, it would be relatively easy to add templates for bulldozer blades and excavator arms which could then be optionally mounted to an existing Chrono::Vehicle model (very much like we have the option to add trailers/rear chassis to an existing vehicle). However, I never looked at what the various possible topologies are (although they seem relatively standardized).
Having said that, you can follow the same idea in the paper Dan linked to by starting with an appropriate existing Chrono::Vehicle template and then adding in your code the additional Chrono physical components (bodies, joints, actuators) to model the bulldozer blade or excavator arm. For wheeled bulldozers and excavators, the existing templates should work just fine (including models with articulated chassis steering). A more difficult problem may be with tracked vehicles since we currently support only a limited set of track assembly templates, so some vehicles will be more difficult or impossible to fit into those.
--Radu
Zero
For modeling ground/soil/rock, which modules should be used — chrono::dem or chrono::fsi? Can they interact with Chrono::Vehicle? For CRM terrain, how accurate is the modeling of discrete materials like sand, gravel, and soil? Also, is anyone in the community working on this together? I can provide 3D models, as shown above.
Thanks!
Zero