TwinEngines stands for digital transformation. How about transforming a car?
The idea of a digital twin lives at the core of our business model. We start with antiquated manual business processes and transform them with digital technology. The question arose: How can we demonstrate our brand concept in a manner that is tangible — and fun!
A middle-of-the-night brainstorm suddenly appeared: Let’s modernize an aging automobile with state-of-the art EV technology. I started looking at VW Beetle kits, but I wanted something more audacious. Quite frankly, some of our clients are passing job jackets with paper forms around the shop floor — so I wanted a car project equally audacious. I settled on a 1965 International Harvester Scout. The Scouts were produced in Ft. Wayne, Indiana as a competitor to the Jeep. Importantly, it’s the unsung precursor to today’s SUVs — but as an odd-looking duck. The chief designer recalled its origin:
The chief designer recalled: There was no product definition to use as a guide… The military jeep was thought to have the correct appearance. Our design sketches with the flat-side, no-contour look never excited the executive committee. The program began to die. One night while sitting at our kitchen table (full of frustration and desperation), I dashed off this rough sketch on a piece of scrap mat board. It had contoured sides and was designed for plastic tooling. The next morning it was shown to a committee member. He reviewed it with controlled enthusiasm, but revived interest in the program. We were off and running.
My wife (also an engineer) displayed “controlled enthusiasm” for my pipe dream, especially as I scanned Ebay for an antique (but expensive) juned Scout. My wife knows the truth: I’m not a car guy. Her greatest fear was a garage full of abandoned rusted parts.
As a Georgia Tech alumni, my dream of driving a TwinEngines Rambling EV Wreck kept me going. Naturally, there were and will be setbacks. That Ebay purchase confirmed my wife’s fears: I had bought a rusted hulk.
I purchased a second Scout off of Craigslist. I now have twice the parts to play with. Please follow my progress to see if a software engineer can deliver a product in the physical world.
The idea of a digital twin lives at the core of our business model.
How about with a car?