Exterior Design
From c,mm,n
The following text is the summary of a graduation thesis by Remco Timmer. He graduated in april 2007 on this study about the exterior design of the c,mm,n car at the Delft University of Technology.
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Abstract
This graduation project covers the development of the exterior design and the realization of the exterior design 1:1 mock up of the c,mm,n concept car that is presented at the AutoRai 2007. The c,mm,n concept car is part of the Society for Nature and Environment and 3TU collaboration that is titled “a car in the future”. The society for Nature and Environment asked the 3TU to join forces and design a more sustainable (ecological, economical and social) personal mobility solution for 2020 targeted to the masses in the West European Market. This graduation was done for GE Plastics that is one of the industry partners in the project.
Future: 2020
In 2020 the controlled networked society will be matured; a society in which people are constantly in contact with their personal networks (trough mature ICT solutions) that aren’t geographically bounded. Networks in the future will get a immense importance in an age where we live with an information overload. Networks are efficient ways to process the information, but for networks to work efficient we need to cooperate with each other. Many developments in society have lead to social exclusion in the public domain. Sustainability in the future will be a necessity also out of an economic motivation. The entire lifecycle of a product will determine its total costs rather then just production and marketing costs. Besides c,mm,n recognizes that the role of the car in society has changed. The original icon car (freedom, independency) is fading away. Society has changed but the icon car hasn’t changed with it.
C,mm,n brand and concept
The brand that resulted from this assignment is c,mm,n. c,mm,n is about cooperation for better personal mobility; cooperation online in a web-community but cooperation on the road as well. The c,mm,n web community is a platform in which people can utilize a wide variety of mobility services. The community as well serves as an open source service and product development platform. Content that helps to improve mobility is supplied through the use of the services and products and through active participants.
C,mm,n exterior design
The exterior design’s mission, being part of c,mm,n , is: (developed according to ViP method (Van Dijk, Hekkert))
“We want people to cooperate in on-road mobility by creating an exterior design that enables and stimulates social interaction”
Through cooperation in mobility a huge sustainability benefit can be achieved, good cooperation among the road users will lead to better traffic flow and thus better quality personal mobility. The exterior of the car is the make or brake point for making contact and thus for initiating cooperation. It as well serves a purpose in facilitating communication between the road users. Therefore the interaction analogy that describes the interaction between user and product for the c,mm,n exterior design is the following:
Relationship between the host and a guest on a party. The host is the car, the guest is the user, and the setting is a busy party on which the guest hardly knows anybody.
For this interaction analogy to work the character of the host is very important the character of the host (the c,mm,n car) should therefore be:
Open, approachable, Exquisite, Lively, Streetwise, Endearing
The character of the car, aerodynamics (that make a very significant contribution to the sustainability of a vehicle), communication and cooperation were the main ingredients for the design theme of the c,mm,n. With the design theme “rock in a river” a natural elegant solution is to be found that redefines the icon car.
The aspects of the design theme are very recognizable still in the eventual concept. The character of the car and the natural elegant aerodynamics are created with the help of the form language “rock in a river”. Of course besides a styling aspect aerodynamics is a very important functional aspect of the concept as well. The car’s individual aerodynamics are improved through the application of many different principles e.g. the car’s track width in front is wider than in the back allowing a drop shaped body, there aren’t any sharp transitions in the body ensuring that the boundary layer of air stays attached to the body up to the point where ribs initiate turbulent mixing of the boundary layer with the viscid flow that surrounds the body, the wheel arches in the front split the wind into a layer that has to travel in y direction and a layer that travel in z direction canceling out any interference (results in drag) between these layers. These and other element ensure the smallest wake behind the car, but still the wake behind the car is used to the benefit of the community. Through various ADAS the c,mm,n users are able to platoon with each other. Much like speed cyclist driving in a row, benefiting from each other air resistance. The c,mm,n platoon spoiler enhances the benefit and stimulates people to cooperate because the car has sub-optimal aerodynamics for driving alone and optimal aerodynamics for platooning. Platooning saves a lot of energy, road use and traffic movement plus it allows the user to do what ever he / she wants because the car can drive fully autonomous. The same wheel arches that split the wind also hold the communication equipment of the c,mm,n. These are thus mounted on a very prominent positioned that is visible from almost any viewpoint, enhancing communication between the road users. Communication is also enhanced through various interior design features, this and the fact that good visibility of the driver re-personalizes traffic as well we chose to make the body very transparent. A transparent body also provides the driver with enough environmental feedback which allows him to feel comfortable and initiate contact with others.
These and many other features (e.g. pedestrian impact safety, crash structure, top slider open roof) of the c,mm,n exterior design have been realized in a structure of a glass filled thermoplastic underbody structure that connect the non filled thermoplastic body to the chassis. Thermoplastics allow for great form freedom that allowed the concept to become what it has become (aerodynamic / transparent etc) and hold a great recycling potential. With the application of Xenoy iq material an extra environmental benefit is obtained because it is created from recycled PET bottles. The roof of the car with the characterizing ribs is created from HPPC, this thermoplastic composite can be applied in such a way that it is as stiff as steel but half the weight of a comparable steel construction. Since weight determines the fuel consumption of the car as well c,mm,n’s exterior design is greatly improving the fuel economy in this way as well.
1:1 mockup and beyond
With the help of many different companies and even more people we were able to realize the 1:1 exterior design mock-up of c,mm,n. The great feedback we’ve had on the concept really motivates and creates the possibility to take the c,mm,n concept further.
