New Tractor Mower Wins Design Awards for Henry Dreyfuss Associates

Firm Creates "Sweet" Body Surface with Alias|Wavefront StudioTools

LOS ANGELES, CA SIGGRAPH - August 14, 2001 - Alias|Wavefront, an SGI (NYSE: SGI) company, announced at SIGGRAPH today that Alias|Wavefront StudioTools software was used to design the new, award winning John Deere Spin-Steer Technology tractor. Now lawn mowing is more fun and more efficient because you can spin 360 degrees in no more space than the mower's own length.

Zero turn radius machines have been available before, but it took John Deere designers and engineers to work out a way to use conventional steering wheel operation to manage the technology.

Award Winning Concept

John Deere's design firm, Henry Dreyfuss Associates of Woodridge, New Jersey, was charged with creating an outer package that would provide the tractor with an image of maneuverability and an appearance that would be new, fun and yet familiar. The sleek, automotive style body Dreyfuss created with StudioTools software has earned a "Best Overall Excellence in Design" award from American Manufacturer Magazine and a Gold Award in the 2001 Industrial Design Excellence Awards, which is co-sponsored by the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) and Business Week Magazine.

Top Quality Styling

Dreyfuss uses StudioTools in all its John Deere designs and in this project the software was especially important for creating the automotive class styling. Jeff Christian, Project Manager, explains, "as the StudioTools model developed we were careful to have the intersections of surfaces and the surface highlights work to reinforce the look of the overall form.

When the light reflects back to the eye in just the right way, we call that a sweet surface. These visual concerns were addressed while at all times adhering to the rigorous exterior and interior space requirements established by Deere and ourselves."

Surface Manipulation with StudioTools

"StudioTools is excellent for surface development," says Christian. "This helps us get exactly what we envisioned when developing features such as the "light spear" on the side of the hood. This feature, and others in this feature-dense design, are employed to add definition and are achieved by careful manipulation of major surfaces. StudioTools was used in the same way to create the wrap-around headlights. They reinforce the sense of lateral movement given by the tractor and provide increased side illumination for the operator."

When it came to color and materials, Dreyfuss wanted to retain product line identity and yet make a visual statement that said this lawn tractor was something new. StudioTools was used to analyze different approaches and then to model the final look. The green Deere trademark color is prominent, but the black color in the reinforced polyethylene fenders was used in a way that is unique in the product line.

Joint Design & Engineering Effort

Christian says the project started with 2D, manual sketches, moved to early physical sketches in clay and foam material and then into StudioTools.

Once the design was brought into StudioTools for surface development, it remained in this format until it was handed over for manufacturing. "We can streamline the process because we are able to evaluate the forms in StudioTools and prove out the parts. Very few modifications had to be made," he says. "We also practice concurrent engineering with the client, working on the mechanical and package designs at the same time. We find that the StudioTools data transfers easily and reliably to the CATIA format used by the engineers."

Design Objectives Met

"Our goal was to visually represent a fresh approach to the form, to reinforce the maneuverability of the product and minimize the volume of the package in order to provide high operator visibility," states Christian.

Judging by the awards Henry Dreyfuss and Associates has already won it looks like the firm can congratulate itself on a job very well done.

StudioTools Price & Platforms

The Alias|Wavefront StudioTools family includes DesignStudio, Studio, AutoStudio and SurfaceStudio. Prices start at $7,500 USD. Prices are indicated in US funds and will vary outside the US. The software runs on Windows NT, Windows 2000, SGI IRIX, Sun Solaris and Hewlett-Packard HP-UX.

About Henry Dreyfuss Associates

Founded in 1929, Henry Dreyfuss Associates is a full service design firm.

One of the first industrial design firms established in the U.S., it has served a variety of clients in the consumer, medical, telecommunications, aviation, agriculture, software and industrial product sectors. The company's human factors research experience and excellent quality of work have distinguished it from other design firms. Whether it be GUI, multimedia interface, product or transportation design, Dreyfuss designs meet the physical and cognitive needs of the end user.

About Alias|Wavefront

As the world's leading innovator of 3D graphics technology, Alias|Wavefront develops software for the film and video, games, interactive media, industrial design, technical surfacing and visualization markets. Alias|Wavefront's design customers include AT&T, BMW, Boeing, Fiat, Ford, Honda, General Motors, Italdesign, Kodak, Mattel, Rollerblade, Trek Bicycle, Teague and Timex. Alias|Wavefront is a wholly owned, independent software company of SGI with technical centers in Toronto, Seattle and Santa Barbara.

http://www.aliaswavefront.com 

 

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