F1 team chooses software for engine development

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Apr 18, 2007

Using Seemage as part of its larger product lifecycle management helps the ING Renault F1 Team realise its most competitive designs more quickly and accurately.

The ING Renault F1 Team has selected Seemage software to deliver 3D information to its engine development team.

Formula 1 demands either V8 or V10 engines featuring extremely sophisticated technology, which requires designers to use the most advanced CAD systems to ensure performance and reliability.

Using Seemage as part of its larger product lifecycle management helps the ING Renault F1 Team realise its most competitive designs more quickly and accurately.

Although engine designers frequently handle 3D design data in their daily activities, this information has not been readily available to everyone outside the design team.

Many others in ING Renault F1 Team also need access to design information for numerous tasks, including design reviews and service procedures.

The 3D CAD model of the engine is the ideal source information for these kinds of tasks, but the information must be available in formats and applications that people who are not designers can use.

This is why the engine development department of the ING Renault F1 Team began to search for ways to distribute Catia V4 and V5 designs more widely.

The ING Renault F1 Team compared a number of different solutions before choosing Seemage for its performance, simplicity of use and cost.

"We were looking for a solution that could operate in a global environment, across all our teams", explains Jean-Francois Plusquellec, IS/IT Team Project Manager, ING Renault F1 Team.

"The people who use Seemage do not have the same requirements as 3D CAD users".

"We selected Seemage over the competition because of its excellent end-user productivity, its graphic and 3D animation performance and its highly accurate results even when using large assemblies or large sets of equipment".

"Seemage Player is another important part of our deployment".

"More than just a free CAD file viewer, Seemage Player offers comprehensive navigation, sizing and annotation functions which are needed in our project to permit the high levels of co-ordination we require among our different departments", added Jean-Francois Plusquellec.

The implementation of Seemage will consist of multiple phases.

The first consists of combining online all validated 3D designs with corresponding 2D plans and supplier documents.

In this phase Seemage's advanced visualisation capabilities are applied to associatively link together all the information so that users always have the most accurate and up to date view of the project.

In the latter phases, Seemage will be the "glue" that permits new levels of interaction among the engine designers and developers and manufacturing, for example by allowing the viewing and interaction of engine parts in their assembly contexts.

This deployment plan for Seemage takes advantage of its ability to be implemented first as a desktop productivity application and then, using open XML, to be nondisruptively integrated into enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), product lifecycle management(PLM) and other enterprise systems.

"We are proud to have been chosen by the ING Renault F1 Team".

"Thanks to the capabilities and ease of use of Seemage, we hope to help the team meet the increasingly demanding challenges of F1 engine design by providing broader access to 3D information", said Bruno Delahaye, Vice President Worldwide Sales, Seemage.

Pete Lewis, Managing Director of Xype, the UK Master Reseller for Seemage added: "We are delighted that ING Renault F1 recognise the considerable benefits of using Seemage as an enabler to product information 'everyware' and look forward to working with them".