The Tesla program is a very interesting program because
the Tesla vehicle being a sports vehicle
it's very constrained in terms of the space that's available
The battery pack it uses is under the floor
which actually raises the floor
of the vehicle quite high
but because it's a sports vehicle the roof line is very low
and the seat is
packaged, has to be packaged in this space
and so we're
burnt from both ends really.
So with Model S, it's quite unique
architecture without an internal combustion engine in the front
and a big petrol tank the rear, in essence our interior architecture
lends itself to a lot of imagination, and what Futuris could actually bring
to the table with this totally new architecture concept were different ways
to actually expand on the available space without having the interior
feel like eat was dissimilar to an everyday premium luxury sedan
So our group is
an applied optimisation
so we look for
industry that can
lead us on projects that are of value to them
and then we can use l strategies an our capability in applied optimisation
to give them a capability that they wouldn't otherwise have
the design of the height adjust system
which Martin's team
was involved in was key.
But the modularity of the seat was important
Because it was startup company with relatively low volume production
A company like Tesla wouldn't want to spend a lot of money on tooling
but they also want
the ability in the flexibility to have seats that can be
made to do different things
power height adjust or manual height adjust; seats that go backwards or forwards or tilt.
They want passengers in the rear to be able to put their feet
safely and comfortably under the seat, so that it feels like a larger car.
So we were constrained in a way that
automotive seating architectures are usually not constrained.
So it's a very highly constrained problem
that's actually a very difficult one to solve.
So what we're actually looking for
in both a design and technology point-of-view was to work with a
company not too dissimilar to our own
our attention to detail was quite specific
obviously the world's first ground-up electric vehicle required a fair amount
of attention and Futuris really provided that as a similar mindset.
The front seat structure
that Martine's been working on
is very good at what it does
it's very lean,
it's very efficient,
very low-mass, benchmarking is one of the
lowest mass
seats that does, that performs those functions
there is.
From of volume point of view,
it's going to be quite significant in our our own terms, delivering up to five thousand
units by the end of this year of 2012,
and a full calendar year of production close to twenty thousand units.
Because it's so efficient and so low-cost which actually sell it in China.
So we specifically designed two structures to be low-cost and sold
in China.
But actually it may end up being that the one we designed from mature market is the one
that becomes the most popular.
i think its simplicity
is
is a beautiful thing actually.
Well to have a concept or an idea to come to fruition and to actually be able
to sit in a seat that you had a hand in manufacturing
is pretty awesome into today's day and age. I suppose with the technology
advancement that we've seen in the last ten and fifteen years, the thought
process that long ago to have anything make it in to actual production that the world
could enjoy was pretty few and far between. But that accessibility on a
global scale for any budding design or engineering student
is a reality now.
The relationship between RMIT and Futuris is
of exceptional value to the academics and to the students. It helps the academics to
be at the cutting edge of the technologies that we apply
and it helps us to be the best practicing engineers that we can be.
The seat design required a fair amount of collaboration and of course
new ideas mix with manufacturing processes that can bring that to market
and I'm sure that that RMIT influence had a big impact.