Objective
There are more than 2,400,000 [1] licenced users of Computer Aided Design (CAD) packages in Europe, covering virtually all industrial sectors for the design and development of new components, assemblies and products. The application of this design tool within engineering and manufacturing sectors is now virtually complete, with 250,000[1]of the licenced users in Europe being manufacturing SMEs. CAD's current use amongst SMEs ranges from it's basic application as a tool to describe geometric form, creating engineering drawings, to its fuller use as a communication medium for component texture, colour and function. The Core Group of Proposers are representative of this range of applications. Since the advent of lower priced component and sub-assembly sourcing into European supply chains from Pacific Rim and former Eastern Bloc countries, domestic manufacturing SMEs, unable to compete on price alone, have started to differentiate their offering by providing increased added value to the first tier suppliers and OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers) they serve. This has tended to be acheived through the development of 'prefered supplier' relationships, where a supplier integrates into a customers design and development process, often taking on the detailing and prototyping of a part and in some cases even it's complete design to a performance specification and price constraint. The key to this approach, is better communication of design intent and detail, enabling suppliers to work closely with their clients, as an integrated team to develop concepts into detail designs and then on to prototyping and performance validation. A tool that is already revolutionising concept visualisation and interaction, is Virtual Reality (VR). It is being used today, to communicate concept designs between client and supplier in the construction, off shore and ship building sectors. Unfortunately, its use is restricted to sectors such as these, where very high value capital products/projects, are able to justify the high cost of accessing the technology. VR applications characteristically run on high end hardware, costing 500kECU or more, and require high levels of expertise in their execution. Low cost access of high quality and accurate VR visualisation techniques, by SME component and sub-assembly suppliers, is currently not possible. Therefore, the industrial objective of the proposed RTD is to provide European SMEs, involved in manufacturing supply chains, with a virtual prototyping system featuring a high degree of visual quality and system accuracy, that can be used on the existing low cost CAD systems and operated by engineering designers, not real time software programmers. This will enable a reduction in time to market by typically 20%, achieved through better client-supplier communication and by reducing the need for physical prototyping. This could create a cost saving of typically 500 ECU for every physical prototype saved up to 75% of the 160MECU pa [2] currently spent by European designers on models and physical prototypes, could be saved. This innovative design tool will have the following advantages over the current design route by enabling: Designers and their customers to interact, directly with design data; Real-time evaluation of a design from any physical perspective; Evaluation in context, by immersing the model in a virtual environment; Real time modifications to be made to the virtual prototype, including colour, texture, geometric and material attributes; Closer product fit with target market, by facilitating 10 to 20 times the design iterations than are currently cost effective to make; Virtual prototype performance prediction, through the provision of an interface with FEA packages. Production of data files to be committed directly CAD-CAM files for the CNC machining of tooling.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- engineering and technology materials engineering colors
- engineering and technology mechanical engineering manufacturing engineering subtractive manufacturing
- natural sciences computer and information sciences software software applications virtual reality
- engineering and technology mechanical engineering vehicle engineering naval engineering sea vessels
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
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Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
412 50 Göteborg
Sweden
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.