Lumeneo will exhibit the SMERA, an innovative electric car, at EHTC in Strasbourg

The SMERA is a new electrical city car for two people. With its 2,40m of length and 0,80m of width, the car is perfectly designed for city tours and fits even in the smallest parking lot. The heart of SMERA is a central electronic system. It manages the whole information of the vehicle, starting from the signals provided by an integrated inertial system. According to the dynamic parameters of the car, the turning curves, the selected driving mode and the road quality, it determines the optimal tilting angle. The car is equipped with a servo-motor with direct current. The car was developed with the HyperWorks Suite. It will be available in series in 2009 and its new version will be exhibited at the Paris Motor Show “Le Mondial de l’Automobile” in October 2008.

“We are excited that LUMENEO will present the new car within our EHTC exhibition in Strasbourg,” said Dr. Michael Hoffmann, Vice President European Operations, Altair Engineering. “Being developed with HyperWorks, we will be able to show with the SMERA, on a first hand example, how our tools can be used within the development process of complete car systems. In addition to the exhibition I am also looking forward to the keynote speech of Daniel Moulène on September 30th, 2008, in which he will talk about the project.”

“When we started to work on the concept in 2003 we realized fast that we would need to rely on the best existing technologies and most current research projects to build a truly innovative car,“ said Daniel Moulène, president and co-founder of Lumeneo. “Cockpit and chassis structure were developed using HyperWorks. By relying on virtual product development tools, the software suite gave us the possibility to have reliable results before the physical tests were done. We are happy to present the car in Strasbourg to show the technical audience of the conference how we developed the SMERA with Altair’s strong support.”

The Altair EHTC will bring together over 400 engineers to discuss Enterprise Simulation during this two day event. An exhibition with more than 20 exhibitors and sponsors will complete the conference.

HyperWorks provides a highly integrated suite of advanced engineering simulation software tools that increase efficiency and reduce cycle time needed to develop innovative, robust products. It comprises tools for model building, Finite Element and Multi Body Analyses, results visualization, optimization and performance data management.