interview: takumi yamamoto & dassault systèmes' OLOID.FD eVTOL

takumi yamamoto’s OLOID.FD realized with

dassault systèmes

The OLOID.FD is an eVTOL that conceptualizes a more sustainable, high-performing flying transportation vehicle for personal, short-haul distances. With its futuristic appearance, the design not only personifies the union of art and science but also exemplifies the technical, collaborative innovation realized with Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform. The French software developer invited Takumi Yamamoto, a Japanese industrial designer, to explore possibilities on their applications.

‘To imagine what could be possible for mobility in 2050 is almost impossible. With this project, I wanted to challenge conventions, not like a sci-fi movie but to create something new to inspire the future of transportation,’ begins Takumi Yamamoto, who has more than 25 years of experience in designing cars for Peugeot and Citroën, in an interview with designboom.

realized on Dassault Systèmes’ 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud, OLOID.FD was conceived to test the possibilities of design and technology

all images courtesy of Dassault Systèmes

‘This project was special,’ continues the industrial designer. ‘As opposed to getting a detailed brief, I saw this as a blank piece of paper to experiment. I chose an oloid as my starting point as I thought the shape captures the moment where art meets science. I knew this form would reflect the technology of Dassault Systèmes, AI, and more.’

Dassault Systèmes approached Takumi knowing that the OLOID.FD would never been seen in our skies. It was conceived as a technological case study. The project aimed to identify trends within mobility design but also the trends of technology. It serves as much as an experiment of Takumi’s imagination as it does as a test of the possibilities of the manufacturer’s own software.

‘The brief was intended to be very open. The project was an exploration of the possibilities – and we actively followed this journey,’ describes Xavier Melkonian, CATIA Design Portfolio. ‘In order to bring the right design solutions to our user community, we need to study and understand two aspects of the coming design challenges. Firstly, there is the need to address actual trends in the industrial design world, such as style, shape and sustainability. Secondly, we need to understand how technology trends – AI, virtual reality, modeling and simulation, team collaboration in a nomad society – are supporting or influencing design and the design process.’

using VR, the initial design catered for human scale and experience on CATIA Creative Design Experience

As a creative prospective project, OLOID.FD only progressed beyond its initial brief thanks to international and multidisciplinary collaboration. This is where the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud came in to facilitate collaborative innovation. The platform, as its name suggests, allows all creative designers, modelers, experts, managers, and stakeholders to work on the same up-to-date data – the ‘virtual twin’ – irrespective of location. All that is needed is a smart device with an internet connection. This project united stakeholders across the globe, from France to Croatia and Japan, as well as any location they traveled to on online community discussions and ideations, 3D modeling and simulation. As soon as the designer made tweaks to the design, the adaptions were also updated and made visible and accessible to the rest of the team either for deeper discussion, refinement, decision-making or further design changes, simulations or renderings.

‘With teams in different locations, the project saw fantastic collaborative innovation around the virtual twin. We used the 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud so everybody was connected on a single source of truth. It was really magical because we created dashboards, communities, and 3D spaces where everyone was working on the virtual twin live. We could see the genesis, progress and evolution of the OLOID.FD all along the project,’ explains Xavier.

‘We use a creative whiteboard on the platform where everyone can insert data. It is really helpful to brainstorm at the start of the project as sketches and 3D models can be added to the virtual board. These initial sketches were then turned into 3D models,’ adds Aude Massoni, a CATIA creative designer who is part of the CATIA R&D Organization.

its oloid shape references the moment where art meets science and the technology used to create it

sketching in vr with catia creative design experience

‘CATIA Creative Design Experience allows designers to easily and naturally express their first design intent by sketching and sculpting in 3D in virtual reality. It includes virtual humans, which gives the designer a better understanding of the perception of the human experience,’ describes Xavier.

Knowing the futuristic, science-turned-art oloid would be the starting shape, Takumi stepped into VR to sketch the shape around the passenger and seats. Lines were drawn, edited, and connected to evolve the form. Afterwards, in the same application, surfaces were also added to the lines so that the design could be experienced from inside and out early in the process.

CATIA Visual Scripting generated a futuristic web that joins the propulsion system and wings

As the form of the OLOID.FD evolved from initial to virtual sketches, the design also evolved as a virtual twin model. Without a model, the geometry could not be tested and optimized going forward. A key application in modelling was CATIA Visual Scripting. This generative design tool played with the structural form that connects the propulsion system and the flying vehicle’s wings. It created a mesh that appears like a futuristic spiderweb built organically. In fact, it was created using an algorithm that generated the highest performing option based on aesthetics, sustainability, and performance.

‘The mesh was created using the CATIA Visual Scripting app, an algorithmic approach to the styling shape generation. From Takumi’s original idea as an input, he was then able to manipulate several parameters to fine tune the mesh and reach the design intent he wanted. In this process, the iteration loop was generating the design he wanted and acting as a source of inspiration at the same time,’ details Xavier.

virtually testing form and materials

With the 3D model generated, the virtual twin could be tested and tweaked almost instantaneously until perfect. Instead of creating a physical prototype at great expense, thousands of different designs could be explored. Aerodynamic simulations meant that every evolution of the vehicle’s shape could be tested for performance. Materials, too, were challenged to improve sustainability through a constant quest for lightness.

‘With our teams working in different locations, it is very easy to share and compare different design proposals, their animations, and the performance. It is vital to use aerodynamic simulations as early as possible in the design process to ensure we are on track,’ clarifies Aude.

virtual simulations meant the performance of form and materials could be tested efficiently and economically

The OLOID.FD was never intended to take off physically. The design of the flying vehicle was always meant to be focused on its creative journey. With its futuristic form and equally advanced materials, the eVTOL is a beacon of the possibilities of mobility thanks to Dassault Systèmes. The 3DEXPERIENCE platform on the cloud allowed the designers, modellers, and other stakeholders to challenge the performance early and, if anything was missed, to continuously edit backwards with the knowledge that the current was updated.

‘Simply, from A to B, we need a vehicle that is safe but quick. The future of mobility will look beyond locations. Right now, we are focused on local and then either continental or intercontinental travel, but the future vehicles will increase our personal mobility ability. That is what OLOID.FD does,’ concludes Takumi.