ANSYS讓最酷炫的發明「飛車」成功起飛

Ansys Elevates Game As Its Software Helps Design First ‘Flying Car’

By J. BONASIA, INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY

Posted 08/06/2010 06:20 PM ET

The Transition, billed as the first commercial "flying car," had product design challenges solved in part
by using simulation software from Ansys. View Enlarged Image

Startup Terrafugia used Ansys software to help develop its Transition, a product right out of “The Jetsons”.It’s a flying car, though its makers prefer the termroadable aircraft.The Transition has been approved for highway use and is slated to go into commercial production next year. It’s aimed at business executives who are also pilots, as an easier way to make a business trip. The cost will be roughly $200,000.

The space-age vehicles design includes foldable wings that span 26 feet, with a rear-wheel-drive system for roadways and a propeller for flight. Engineers used software tests to improve the wings airborne lift, while reducing crosswinds on the road.

The street-legal aircraft can fly nearly 500 miles at speeds of 105 mph. After landing, the wings can be folded up in 30 seconds, transforming the Transition into a car capable of highway speeds.

"This plane has to have enough structural reliability to be FAA-worthy, and yet be durable enough to handle the rattles and bumps from road use," Cashman said.

Computer-aided simulations are used in many fields, such as product assemblies for the auto and aerospace industries, or pipeline flows in the oil and gas sector. Newer applications include modeling the blood flows of surgery patients or developing new forms of solar and biomass energy.

"This is all a matter of having the right software technology, because the problems we solve are the ones that people confront every day in the design world," Cashman said.

Ansys is based in Canonsburg, Pa., just outside Pittsburgh. Far from a household name, the company hits its 40th anniversary this year, quite a feat in the software world. It’s older than companies named Microsoft (MSFT), Oracle (ORCL) and Adobe Systems (ADBE), which aren’t rivals, and Autodesk (ADSK) and Dassault Systems (DASTY), which are the biggest makers of computer-aided design software. Ansys direct rivals in simulation software are all smaller outfits.