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• DARPA's Plan to Revolutionize Auto Manufacturing »

Popular Mechanics -- The defense research group DARPA wants better vehicles, and it wants them faster and cheaper. To make it happen, the Pentagon's mad scientists are taking a cue from computer-circuit builders.

During the 1980s, the integrated-circuit-manufacturing industry began a sea change away from the traditional manufacturing model: Design was separated from manufacturing as a stand-alone function, with designers outsourcing manufacturing to dedicated fabrication plants, or fabs. The result has been an industry more responsive to the rapid pace of innovation that we all know and love today.

DARPA helped bring about that computing revolution and now aims to do the same thing to vehicle design. Announced last year, DARPA's Adaptive Vehicle Make program, or AVM, is a suite of interlocking programs tha

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Submitted Feb 03, 2012 By: Cakes77

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123cowboy Champion Author Maine Posts:1,744 Points:351,990 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Feb 4, 2012 4:32:05 PM Ignore 123cowboy Report Abuse wonder what the auto makers and UAW will have to say.....
NHLiveFree Champion Author New Hampshire Posts:8,050 Points:1,274,355 Joined:Jun 2008	Message Posted: Feb 4, 2012 4:29:50 PM Ignore NHLiveFree Report Abuse One critical point this group at DARPA has ignored it the importance of having the design group at the manufacturing site. It provides vital knowledge of all the manufacturing steps and allows the design engineers to rapid adjustments and corrections to both the design and the process. They are inseparable and integration is 'priceless'. DARPA programs like MMIC in the 80s do advance the 'state of the art', but do not solve all the problems. No armored vehicle in our military inventory has benefitted by process improvements from DARPA and the DoD acquisition system to date. When the first Abrams tank rolled off the production line at the AMC(later General Dynamics) plant in Warren, MI, the Army discovered they had no flat bed rail cars capable of holding the tank for transport to the final outfitter in PA or to any military depot! Minor detail was overlooked by non-integrated groups and added long delays while costing additional tens of millions.
apiergallini Veteran Author North Carolina Posts:348 Points:162,755 Joined:Mar 2011	Message Posted: Feb 4, 2012 2:00:42 PM Ignore apiergallini Report Abuse Sounds pretty cool.
northeast2 Champion Author New York Posts:3,179 Points:855,605 Joined:Mar 2008	Message Posted: Feb 4, 2012 8:06:44 AM Ignore northeast2 Report Abuse Interesting.
Sneakers55 Champion Author Houston Posts:44,887 Points:1,812,700 Joined:Nov 2005	Message Posted: Feb 4, 2012 6:40:31 AM Ignore Sneakers55 Report Abuse On Feb 4, 2012 6:22:27 AM, I wrote: >It would have helped if the original poster would have included >a link to the full story. Adaptive Vehicle Make homepage at DARPA
Sneakers55 Champion Author Houston Posts:44,887 Points:1,812,700 Joined:Nov 2005	Message Posted: Feb 4, 2012 6:40:21 AM Ignore Sneakers55 Report Abuse <<remove inexplicable dupe>> [Edited by: Sneakers55 at 2/4/2012 7:42:11 AM EST]
Sneakers55 Champion Author Houston Posts:44,887 Points:1,812,700 Joined:Nov 2005	Message Posted: Feb 4, 2012 6:27:06 AM Ignore Sneakers55 Report Abuse On Feb 4, 2012 5:22:24 AM, Luckylindy wrote: >Then the entire electronics industry got shipped overseas. Consumer electronics, yes. Semiconductor fabs, not nearly as much. Intel still has 64% of their fab capacity in the USA. Their other fabs are in Ireland and Israel. IBM Microelectronics makes the CPU for the Sony PlayStation 3 in New York State.
Sneakers55 Champion Author Houston Posts:44,887 Points:1,812,700 Joined:Nov 2005	Message Posted: Feb 4, 2012 6:22:27 AM Ignore Sneakers55 Report Abuse Automotive plants that are the equivalent to semiconductor fabs already exist. It would have helped if the original poster would have included a link to the full story.
gawxnative All-Star Author Atlanta Posts:507 Points:185,455 Joined:Aug 2006	Message Posted: Feb 4, 2012 6:09:01 AM Ignore gawxnative Report Abuse Ok we'll see
Luckylindy Champion Author Milwaukee Posts:2,692 Points:772,070 Joined:May 2008	Message Posted: Feb 4, 2012 5:22:24 AM Ignore Luckylindy Report Abuse Then the entire electronics industry got shipped overseas.
kenji554 All-Star Author Charlotte Posts:936 Points:224,670 Joined:Jun 2011	Message Posted: Feb 4, 2012 3:29:47 AM Ignore kenji554 Report Abuse Ok
Ahking Champion Author Orange County Posts:2,009 Points:330,055 Joined:May 2011	Message Posted: Feb 4, 2012 12:06:50 AM Ignore Ahking Report Abuse good to know. a natural progression to get this capability, the tools, & data structure.
Martinman Champion Author Mississippi Posts:12,522 Points:1,741,020 Joined:Sep 2005	Message Posted: Feb 3, 2012 11:02:27 PM Ignore Martinman Report Abuse The problem is that deisgning an automobile, is not the same as designing a printed circuit board (PCB).
APlus Champion Author San Antonio Posts:2,539 Points:694,755 Joined:Apr 2007	Message Posted: Feb 3, 2012 8:06:12 PM Ignore APlus Report Abuse Replace humans with machines