Self-driving vehicles may be reaching our roads within a few years. If Volvo is going to be ready with a working design, they need to learn to fail fast.
The first draft of any new design is always digital. Volvo designers don't work on these designs for long in a digital space, however.
If an idea isn't going to work, you want to know as soon as possible, to change direction and find a better solution.
That's why, when creating Concept 26 -- Volvo's latest self-driving prototype -- the design team used a host of tools to bring digital theories to the physical world.
An ergonomic reclining driver's seat is a centerpiece of the design. The final product would involve sophisticated mechatronics, but to test the idea Volvo Advanced Concepts Director, Doug Frasher, created a simple mock-up. This quick-and-dirty model lets them know if it works, or if they've failed, fast.
Using these simple tools, Volvo is able to advance new designs quickly and efficiently, and we think the effort shows in the finished new vehicles.
Come schedule a test drive at Weston Volvo in Davie, FL.
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