MathWorks’ EcoCar: The NeXt Challenge competition, which tests teams’ ability to employ model-based design tools to build an advanced technology vehicle, has wrapped up its Year 2 Finals. A key winner was Ohio State University, which nabbed MathWorks’ Crossover to Model-Based Design Award 2010, chosen out of 16 teams from the United States and Canada for its innovative use of modeling and simulation.
The Crossover to Model-Based Design Award recognizes EcoCAR teams that exhibit the most creative application of MathWorks software products, including Simulink and MATLAB, to help achieve the competition’s overall objectives. Established by the United States Dept. of Energy (DOE) and General Motors and managed by the Argonne National Lab, the three-year competition challenges teams to reduce the environmental impact of SUVs by improving fuel efficiency and reducing emissions, while retaining the vehicle’s performance and consumer appeal. The task is to reengineer a donated 2009 Saturn Vue and explore advanced propulsion and clean vehicle solutions, including full-function electric, range-extended electric, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and fuel cell technologies. Rather than be a forum for promoting new car design, the challenge is really about fostering and nurturing a new generation of engineers as all participants have to comply with real-world engineering processes.
Teams are evaluated throughout the overall vehicle development process, from plant modeling, controls design and tuning to data analysis, visualization, and hardware implementation. Runners-up for this year’s award are Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology (Terre Haute, IN), and Mississippi State University (Starkville, MS), which also placed first in the overall Year Two competition.
Almost every automaker has had to 'pick a side' when it comes to alternative fuel options and ways to divest from a reliance on gasoline. Fiat is looking to back compressed natural gas or liquid propane as an interim solution.
Plastic may not be the most beloved of materials to the more environmentally minded, but Plasti 2012 aimed to mold a different opinion of the material in people's minds.
The rare earth element market has become steadily more rational, and new sources coming online will continue to reduce costs. Still, it is unlikely that prices will drop to their former lows.
Against a backdrop of mounting product complexity and a need to keep a lid on development costs, companies are recognizing a need to make simulation a more integral part of the design process. In response, vendors in the CAD world are building out CAE functionality as part of their CAD suites while simulation vendors are building tighter integrations to leading CAD tools. Keith Meintjes, Ph.D., Practice Manager, Simulation and Analysis at CIMdata, Inc., joins Design News CAD Editor Beth Stackpole in this radio program to explore the new face of integrated CAD and CAE, how companies are benefitting from this tighter partnership between platforms, and how integrating CAE earlier in the development cycle pays off in optimized product designs.
To save this item to your list of favorite Design News content so you can find it later in your Profile page, click the "Save It" button next to the item.
If you found this interesting or useful, please use the links to the services below to share it with other readers. You will need a free account with each service to share an item via that service.
Tweet This
8 
