CNN Technology Today: Hewlett Packard & the Romulus Predator Supercar
CNN December 1997
Car Designed Using Only Computers
By David Einstein,
Freelance Business Writer
Nov 5, 1997
https://www.sfgate.com/business/artic...
The Romulus Predator looks like your basic supercar -- deep air scoops along the sides, swept-back windshield and swing-up doors.
In one key way, however, the Predator is unique. It's the first automobile to be developed entirely with computers.
The 200 mph, 550-horsepower supercar was introduced yesterday at an automobile trade show in Detroit. With a base price of $150,000, it will compete against Ferraris, Lamborghinis and other high- end sports cars.
The Predator was designed by M&L Auto Specialists, a small firm in Two Rivers, Wis. Using workstations from Hewlett-Packard and an array of sophisticated design and analysis software, Mark Gerisch and his small staff at M&L were able to develop the flashy car in three months -- about half the time it would have taken using traditional clay and steel prototypes. "This is not your normal Ford Taurus," said Larry Anderson, a marketing manager for HP's workstations division. "It pushes design automation to the max. It was amazing that it took just a few months to make this all happen.”
High-powered computers have played an increasing role in the design of cars and airplanes. By using 3-D prototypes, manufacturers can see how a vehicle will look and perform on a computer screen, without having to build an expensive model.
M&L CEO Gerisch, who has built automobile reproductions for 17 years, approached HP earlier this year. "He said he really wanted to reduce his development time and costs," Anderson said.
Palo Alto-based HP saw Gerisch's desire as an opportunity to promote its workstations, which compete in the 3-D graphics arena with systems from Silicon Graphics and Sun Microsystems. HP joined with three software companies -- who also saw the public relations value of the idea -- to contribute tens of thousands of dollars of hardware and software used to develop the Predator:
-- EDS Unigraphics of Stockholm contributed computer-aided design software.
-- Engineering Animation Inc. of Ames, Iowa, provided digital prototyping software that allowed real-time analysis of design flaws.
-- ICEM Technologies of Arden Hills, Minn., furnished software that made it possible to virtually design sophisticated surfaces that ordinarily would have to be prototyped using metal and fiberglass.
-- MacNeal-Schwendler of Los Angeles provided software for analyzing the vehicle's structure so that designers could reduce weight while maintaining strength.
The Predator is expected to go into limited production within two years.
Nov 5, 1997
David Einstein
FREELANCE BUSINESS WRITER
David Einstein is a freelance writer specializing in business and technology. He was a San Francisco Chronicle business reporter from 1989 to 1999 and has written a weekly consumer technology column for the paper since 1997. He also has held writing and editing positions with the Associated Press, Los Angeles Times and Forbes.com.