December 2008

Ever Heard of the Virtual Volvo?

Once upon a time, the “blueprints” for a Volvo were drawn by hand on a drafting table. Fifteen years ago, it took several hours to display a design sketch on a computer. Now it takes less than 30 seconds. Today, every Volvo is a “virtual Volvo” before a single component is ordered.

 

Modern cars would not be possible without the assistance of a computer. However, ask a Volvo designer about inspiration, and he or she will brandish a pencil! Nothing beats the inspirational feel of a pencil touching the paper in the early conceptual phase. This is still the best way to define the look and feel of a new Volvo. Yet, even pencil sketches quickly give way to the computer screen. Designers focus on aesthetic qualities such as “vision lines,” the styling that catches your eyes. With the computer, designers can place the “hood line” right on the vision line and assess and adjust the visual impact of the car. The computer helps integrate the sketch ideas to come up with the concept design for the car.

 

Stefan Jansson, Studio Chief Designer for Volvo in Göteborg, explains part of the process. "We work in 3D and can modify the details by pulling, drawing, stretching and so on. Surface after surface is built up this way." The same type of software is used as in the film and computer game industry.

 

Virtual development reduces the need for physical car models, and modifications along the way are quick and easy to implement. "In the end, we still make a clay model for verification," says Jansson. "And for the interior of the car, a test series is produced. Everything inside a car must be evaluated with all five senses, not just visually."

 

When the virtual concept is approved, Volvo design engineers focus on coming up with the detailed production drawings of the car. The “virtual” sketches can be modified in proportions and details without having to redraw them from the beginning. They can also be grouped with the correct proportions. Every part requires a precision design suitable for ordering its fabrication. Building the car totally in the computer has its advantages!

 

One of the advantages is the ability to test the virtual parts as if they were real. To confirm that components conform to Volvo’s stringent safety standards, assemblies are subjected to the stresses they will experience in the “metal” by using computer models. Still, some new designs are taken beyond the virtual and actually fabricated for testing. The computer is not yet the “final word!”

 

Even though the design is still a “virtual Volvo,” this is the physical development phase. During this stage, designers “draw” and “test” every part including door handles, mirrors, wiper blades, taillamps and headlamps - everything including all the internals.

 

This is where consultation with outside suppliers begins. After all, a Volvo is the sum of its parts, most of which are made by outside firms. With the headlamps, the Volvo design engineer might work with a supplier such as Hella to develop the shape and optics of the lighting instruments on the car. The Hella engineers contribute their latest technologies, also developed on the computer, and together with the Volvo engineers settle on the design and specific components of the lighting systems. This happens with every system making up the Volvo you will be driving in just a couple of years.

 

“If you have done a good job in the computer, you should almost be able to just sit back and see how it is all put together in front of you,” states Jansson. “That never happens, of course, but it is very close. There will be small aspects that require some hand finishing, but most everything finalized in the virtual stage transfers to the building stage with minimal rework.”

 

Isn’t it comforting to know there is a “virtual Volvo” behind the one you are driving? It’s the way Volvo makes certain your car is not only a masterpiece of design, but also a paragon of safety and efficiency.