CAVA

Cars are designed in respect of different international rules, norms and standards. In a common venture with the German automotive OEMs Transcat has developed a solution covering this requirement.CAVA is complementary software to CATIA V5 from Dassault Systemes. The CAVA products consist of design and help tools to enable automotive OEM’s and their suppliers around the world to assure compliancy of a car’s design to both national and international standards and norms. An automaker has to comply with many different government-regulated standards and norms.The list of CAVA products includes CAVA OVA - Overall Vehicle ArchitectureAt the start of the design process detailed geometry for the vehicle typically is not present. The definitive vehicle parameters, such as dimensions and seat positions, are still subject to alteration. CAVA offers a wide range of options to quickly and visually verify the various (legal) requirements applicable to vehicle design.CAVA VisionThere are numerous requirements requiring compliance related to the driver’s direct and indirect vision. The influence that geometry has on the driver’s field of vision can be easily investigated with CAVA Vision.Questions such as ‘will the vehicle still fulfill the requirements for A-pillar obstruction if the SRP (Seating Reference Point) is changed slightly’ are readily answered.CAVA SafetyThe direct safety of passengers and pedestrians plays a major role in the development of new vehicles. CAVA Safety provides features to analyze the bonnet and windscreen for pedestrian safety and interior points to address head impact. Support geometry is created within CATIA and reports are available on critical areas early in the process.CAVA ManikinWithin the sphere of ergonomics, SAE standards specify a two-dimensional test dummy for use in determining passenger positions. The dummy can be positioned to the geometric guidelines or specifications for the angle of the body and relevant parameters. Using the contours of the head position and the eye view points and ellipses, all relevant SAE parameters such as headroom or legroom can be verified.CAVA WiperWith CAVA Wiper, the user can simulate the geometry of the wipers and determine the wiped area on the windscreen. Used together with the ‘Field of View’ feature in CAVA Vision, it is possible to check the percentage of wiped area within the field of view. Up to three wipers can be simulated within one feature.CAVA Tools – SilhouetteThe Silhouette function is offering the possibility to project the silhouette of any selected geometry to a target plane. Thus helping to create homologation drawings and the frontal area of the car for a drag coefficient calculation. The Silhouette function is also suitable for applications beyond car design – coming in handy whenever generating a projection of multiple geometry or CGR elements becomes necessary. One of CAVA’s main benefits is its support of V5 associativity capabilities. All CAVA functions are implemented seamlessly within CATIA V5 for an easy access to the feature tree, enabling full associativity resulting from geometry modifications such as car body parts or reference points. Thus the norms and standards are checked continuously and updated while the car goes through the different design processes. Any failure to meet the rules defined in the selected country norms will result in an alert indicating the error to be solved.