Roomy roadster races to show

An ICEM product story

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Feb 10, 2004

Skoda's revolutionary Roomster concept car was developed in record time through the extensive use of the ICEM Surf suite of surface modelling, analysis and visualisation software.

Skoda's revolutionary Roomster concept car, unveiled in September 2003 at the IAA Show in Frankfurt, Germany, was developed in record time through the extensive use of the ICEM Surf suite of surface modelling, analysis and visualisation software.

ICEM Surf was used throughout the car's design development, especially the interior, to create highly accurate 3D digital surface models of the vehicle.

The resulting data was then used directly in the machining of the final physical show model.

"One of the big advantages of using ICEM Surf in the design development of the Roomster's interior was that it enabled us to visualise the design on computer from the earliest stages", says Radek Simon, leader, CA-styling, surfacing team in Skoda design.

"In addition, it enabled us to develop the vehicle's interior in parallel with the exterior design development, which saved us a great deal of time".

ICEM Surf's scan modeling facilities enabled the Roomster development team to read "point cloud" data from 3D photogrammetric scans of the clay model straight into ICEM Surf.

The data could then be visualised and converted automatically into a digital surface model for further development and refinement.

ICEM Surf was also used to create 3D surface models from the designer's original 2D sketches of the vehicle's main interior components, such as the instrument panel and door trim etc.

During the design development process, the majority of changes and design modifications required were made directly within the ICEM Surf digital modelling environment.

ICEM's real-time rendering facilities were used extensively during this process to generate photo-realistic visualisations of the vehicle for design review and validation purposes.

The use of ICEM Surf's analysis facilities, such as highlights analysis, enabled the team to arrive at the optimum shapes in the minimum of time.

Using the final ICEM Surf model data, interior components were machined from foam and then finished with appropriate laminates.

The body was machined from metal, using the ICEM Surf model data and spray-painted to give it the finish required for the IAA Show.

"The use of ICEM Surf's scan modelling, high quality, real-time model visualisation and advanced surface modelling tools on the Roomster concept car project was invaluable to us", says Skoda's Simon.

"We are a long-time user of ICEM's software.

Without it, we would not have been able to develop the Roomster concept car and show prototype in the time that we did".

The Skoda Roomster is a compact family car concept.

The car's name reveals the design goal: "room" is an interior that breaks all standards of its class, offering extremely generous space and a great number of variations; "(road)ster" expresses the dynamics and feelings of the styling study.

With its length of 4055mm, the Roomster is comfortable to drive in urban traffic and easy to park.

Meanwhile, its width of 1843mm, its wheelbase of 2710mm and especially, its height of 1669mm are the largest in its category.

The appearance of the body is designed to evoke a feeling of robustness, solidity and safety.

The asymmetric design features an unusually wide rear door on the passenger side only, enabling convenient access to the rear seats and easy loading and unloading of bulky objects.

Thanks to sliding rear seats, the interior is extremely versatile.

With the rear seats in the back position, the driver can load two bicycles easily through the wide rear door with its low sill.

Folding the seats in their back position provides a luggage space that resembles that of a small van.

With the Roomster there is no need to compromise between attractiveness on the one hand and utility on the other: Skoda's styling study offers both in a new way.

And there are many more ways that the Roomster's revolutionary concept of space, versatility and design could be used: already envisaged are a taxi, an urban messenger van, a pickup and a convertible sport coupe.