‘I see, I do’ Welcome to Boeing’s new 3-D world of virtual-reality airplane design by da n ral ey | photos by Bob Ferguson Filled with a wall-size projector screen, a small desk and a row of chairs, the Boeing conference room looked ordinary enough. Yet once a computer was turned on and the overhead lights switched off, the workspace magically transformed into the inside of a 777X jetliner. Intricate mechanical systems appeared in life-size dimensions, illuminated in neon shades of green, blue, red and yellow. A virtual mannequin, representing a maintenance employee, stood in front of the maze of wires, hoses and tubes, ready to perform tasks on digital command. Adam Richardson enters this computer-simulated work area in Everett, Wash., three to four times per day—he’s largely responsible for creating it. To get there, he wears antenna-rimmed 3-D glasses that resemble something taken straight from a Star Trek film. “I have the best job in the company,” said Richardson, a Boeing Research & Technology systems engineer. The three-dimensional (3-D) worldwithin a-world is referred to as IC.IDO, pronounced “I see, I do.” It’s named for vendor-supplied software that Boeing has customized. Commercial Airplanes has multiple IC.IDO systems. In Everett, two are up and running, with a third on the way for the 777X and another for the 787; the Boeing South Carolina site in North Charleston has one for the 787, supporting the site’s propulsion systems work; Renton has two systems for the 737 and 737 MAX work; and the St. Louis site is acquiring a system to support its work statement for the 777X, according to Richardson. Twenty years ago, the 777 was the first commercial jetliner 100 percent digitally designed and preassembled on a Photo: Boeing Research & Technology systems engineer Adam Richardson, wearing 3-D glasses, solves 777X design problems using computer-simulated technology. Jenu 2015 17
Frontiers June 2015 Issue
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