Happenings

Siemens PLM Software And Red Bull Racing

BY Burnpavement

While drivers battle on the race track, what gives race teams the overall upper hand?

The Red Bull Racing's answer started in 2004. Siemens PLM Software was introduced as an innovation partner, and has since propelled Red Bull Racing to the front of the grid. In the fast-paced and ever-changing Formula One environment, modifications to vehicle designs have to be done quickly and parts have to be acquired while leaving time for testing and refinement prior to the race. With Siemen's PLM software called NX, a fully integrated CAD/CAM/CAE suite, Red Bull Racing's engineers can design the car and create the machine tool cutter paths for manufacturing parts on the milling and turning machines, without having to resort to traditional models

From the early stages during the off-season, the team’s Formula One car is developed entirely in Siemens' NX software, based on functional requirements and the ever changing Formula One regulations. The model proceeds to outline structure where the Red Bull Racing design team has approximately 150 workstations running NX, to develop geometric part models for the entire vehicle. The NX system gets even more crucial during the race season, as performance-enhancing modifications to the car have to be produced in as little as one week.

To keep the engineers connected with other, Red Bull Racing turns to Siemens' Teamcenter, a fully integrated solution that provides a design-through-manufacturing environment that sets the stage for a highly competitive Red Bull Racing team. Design engineers can easily obtain references from other engineers as they create the digital car, using the Teamcenter system to share their data. All these behind-the-scenes only have one purpose: To produce faster lap times. After all, even a fraction of a second advantage in every lap will ultimately determine the results.