We wanted to share with you a cool application of product design collaboration for the transportation industry from our parent company, Altair. The company’s ProductDesign division recently announced it has officially kicked-off its BUSolutions program to build an advanced bus design to lower transit authority operating costs and further minimize the environmental impact of public transportation.
The project makes extensive use of virtual prototyping and optimization technologies that drive the entire product design process, taking into consideration the needs of transit authorities, bus drivers, riders and the communities within the transit system.
It will deliver a low-floor, heavy-duty bus design that is substantially lighter than those currently available. This means reduced fuel consumption, reduced wear on city streets, longer tire and component life, and reduced noise and pollution; all highly-desirable benefits for communities that are reliant on public transportation.
BUSolutions is a collaborative effort between a number of public and private entities including local Southeast Michigan-based organizations Automation Alley, SMART and the Detroit Department of Transportation; and globally recognized companies Arvin Meritor and Alcoa Howmet among many others.
Altair ProductDesign is now one step closer to the fruition of the project. Fabrication of the bus body structure is currently underway with partner Odyssey Industries.
Final assembly is slated to begin this summer at Altair, so we are looking forward to sharing progress on this project and other innovative design applications from Altair with you.
