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From cars to boats, a journey through complex systems design

April 20, 2020

Being able to work remotely and efficiently has become the primary challenge for every company, especially while facing the current situation we are all living in. Dassault Systèmes has made this objective a reality, providing a cloud system for its mechanical conception software: the 3DExperience platform. From now on, SP80’s mechanical team will be able to simultaneously design, simulate and make assemblies of several mechanical systems.

David Sanchez, member of the performance prediction team
Aurore Kerr, Community Manager

From cars to boats, a journey through complex systems design

April 20, 2020

Being able to work remotely and efficiently has become the primary challenge for every company, especially while facing the current situation we are all living in. Dassault Systèmes has made this objective a reality, providing a cloud system for its mechanical conception software: the 3DExperience platform. From now on, SP80’s mechanical team will be able to simultaneously design, simulate and make assemblies of several mechanical systems.

The idea of using 3DExperience platform was first brought by Etienne Mordret. Etienne is the leader of the mechanical team. He has been using the 3DExperience platform during his exchange year at TU Delft. Former high-level karting pilot, he was part of the Formula Student Team Delft in 2018-2019 and learned to use the platform there: “I was astonished to see how such a big team could deal so easily with the design of a complex car. Thanks to the 3DExperience cloud system, everything is online and the software has this unique functionality to manage saving conflicts when several people are working simultaneously on an assembly”. 3DExperience platform presents other useful functionalities. For example, the platform boasts a wide range of plug-ins that are linked to the same interface and  working environment, offering the possibility of multiple optimization on different parameters such as weight, resistance or kinematics. Improvements made to a component are then directly uploaded on the Cloud and can be modified or completed without the need to export all the changes made.

Upon his return to EPFL, Etienne wanted to tackle a new challenge. SP80 presents a unique chance to work on a revolutionary and innovative design without the constraints of a car competition schedule or the technological heritage it implies. Etienne is therefore able to provide his knowledge on car design and 3DExperience to SP80. The current confinement situation is further underlining the crucial need of his experience. We have begun to set up the design platform to implement 3D modelisation, thanks to the academic licenses provided by Dassault Systèmes. Beyond mechanical design, some specific modules are going to be extremely useful for us. The Human Design application, through its ability to simulate the pilot’s field of vision, positions and movements, will be of utmost importance to optimize the ergonomics of the cockpit without the need to build a model. The Functional Generative Design module is also highly important in the scope of the record, as each additional superfluous gramm is a loss of speed. Being able to easily iterate some mechanical parts helps us to find the best compromise between weight and resistance.

From now on, we will be able to design complex systems for SP80’s boat in the best conditions. Thanks to Dassault Systèmes and its 3DExperience platform, we have acquired a higher design flexibility and efficiency. Etienne Mordret, with his deep experience in car design, has been able to transfer all his knowledge and expertise to the sailing world, making the SP80 the next Formula 1 of boats.

David Sanchez, member of the performance prediction team
Aurore Kerr, Community Manager