Intelligent Manufacturing € March € 1996 € Vol. 2 € No. 3

ICE: Joint Venture Heats Up Car Design

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A new intelligent system-based automobile manufacturing technology was introduced at the Geneva (Switzerland) Motor Show, held earlier this month: the Integrated Car Engineer (ICE). ICE is a joint venture among Concentra Corp. (Burlington, Mass.), a supplier of engineering automation software, Lotus Engineering Ltd. (Hethel, U.K.), a whole vehicle engineering consultant and high performance vehicle manufacturer, and Singapore-based Tata Technologies, a provider of software development and consulting to large manufacturers. This joint venture has as its aim to enable car manufacturers to design new vehicles in days, rather than months.

ICE drives designs from the top-down, constantly cross-checking each element against every other. At the heart of ICE is Concentra's ICAD System, a knowledge-based engineering system. The ICAD System's generative technology integrates the combined expert knowledge base of designers and engineers as well as world-wide safety legislation, design codes, vehicle regulations, manufacturability and marketing information.

ICE will allow designers to test many concepts in a virtual environment and poll potential customers much nearer the time of actual vehicle purchase than was previously possible. From an opening screen with a set of simple questions such as basic body type (e.g., sports coupe, MPV, 4x4, hatchback), intended territory compliance (e.g., North America, Europe, Asia) and an infinitely variable wire-frame template, ICE can transform simple instructions into complex, testable and buildable 3-D car design iterations.

ICE is set to incorporate every element of Lotus Engineering's auto-design expertise, including vehicle layout, body panel design, engine placement (front, rear, mid/transverse or in-line), transmission (manual, automatic, semi-automatic), suspension tolerance analysis, headlamp design, interior ergonomics and instrumentation (including passenger placement, comfort and driver field-of-view), ground clearances, weight, distribution and handling, glazing and wheel envelope generations, wiper system design, rear-view mirror and final vehicle performance to create new designs almost instantly. Ultimately, finished designs can be electronically "skinned" and "driven" around a virtual test-track.

Concentra will market ICE to automotive manufacturers worldwide, while Lotus Engineering and Tata Technologies will provide ongoing development and system support.