Altair Case Studies Innovative Golf Club Design through IoT: Wilson's Driver vs. Driver Competition

	Innovative Golf Club Design through IoT: Wilson's Driver vs. Driver Competition Altair

Innovative Golf Club Design through IoT: Wilson's Driver vs. Driver Competition

Altair

Technology Category	Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation Sensors - Level Sensors
Applicable Industries	Apparel Consumer Goods
Applicable Functions	Product Research & Development
Use Cases	Driver Performance Monitoring Virtual Prototyping & Product Testing
Challenge	Wilson Sporting Goods Co., a leading manufacturer of high-performance sports equipment, was faced with the challenge of supporting contestants in a golf driver design television show, Driver vs. Driver. The show aimed to encourage innovation in the golf industry by having aspiring golf club designers compete to develop a winning design that would ultimately be produced as Wilson’s next driver. The challenge was to provide the contestants with the necessary tools and expertise to bring their designs to life, while ensuring that the designs were technically sound and met the high expectations of consumers in terms of look, feel, and performance. The increasing competition in the sporting industry and the growing demand for faster, lighter, and stronger equipment added to the complexity of the challenge. Read More
About Customer	Wilson Sporting Goods Co., a subsidiary of Amer Sports Corporation, is a world-leading manufacturer of high-performance sports equipment, apparel, and accessories. The company is based in Chicago, Illinois and has been focused on helping athletes everywhere reach their true potential since 1914. Wilson invents, designs, and engineers game-changing products using state-of-the-art sports technologies and expertise. They study the relationship between athletes and their equipment, keeping this in mind throughout the development process. Wilson developed a concept for a television competition, Driver vs. Driver, to encourage innovation in the golf industry. Read More
Solution	Wilson partnered with Altair, a company they had previously worked with on successful projects, to assist in the development of the show. Altair’s technical and industrial design teams worked under the direction of Wilson Labs. They leveraged virtual design technologies to rapidly explore concepts and optimize aerodynamics. Altair ProductDesign industrial designers and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) experts used solidThinking Evolve, a design tool that allows rapid concept development and creation of digital models from sketches and ideas. This tool played a key role in enabling the contestants and the designers to explore multiple structural and aesthetic iterations. Altair HyperWorks’ Virtual Wind Tunnel (VWT), a CFD tool developed specifically to simulate and analyze the aerodynamics of a given object, was used to analyze the aerodynamics performance of the initial designs. This allowed the contestants to make significant improvements to their designs. Read More Log in to view content
Contents

Technology Category

Analytics & Modeling - Digital Twin / Simulation

Sensors - Level Sensors

Applicable Industries

Apparel

Consumer Goods

Applicable Functions

Product Research & Development

Use Cases

Driver Performance Monitoring

Virtual Prototyping & Product Testing

Challenge

Wilson Sporting Goods Co., a leading manufacturer of high-performance sports equipment, was faced with the challenge of supporting contestants in a golf driver design television show, Driver vs. Driver. The show aimed to encourage innovation in the golf industry by having aspiring golf club designers compete to develop a winning design that would ultimately be produced as Wilson’s next driver. The challenge was to provide the contestants with the necessary tools and expertise to bring their designs to life, while ensuring that the designs were technically sound and met the high expectations of consumers in terms of look, feel, and performance. The increasing competition in the sporting industry and the growing demand for faster, lighter, and stronger equipment added to the complexity of the challenge.

About Customer

Wilson Sporting Goods Co., a subsidiary of Amer Sports Corporation, is a world-leading manufacturer of high-performance sports equipment, apparel, and accessories. The company is based in Chicago, Illinois and has been focused on helping athletes everywhere reach their true potential since 1914. Wilson invents, designs, and engineers game-changing products using state-of-the-art sports technologies and expertise. They study the relationship between athletes and their equipment, keeping this in mind throughout the development process. Wilson developed a concept for a television competition, Driver vs. Driver, to encourage innovation in the golf industry.

Solution

Wilson partnered with Altair, a company they had previously worked with on successful projects, to assist in the development of the show. Altair’s technical and industrial design teams worked under the direction of Wilson Labs. They leveraged virtual design technologies to rapidly explore concepts and optimize aerodynamics. Altair ProductDesign industrial designers and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) experts used solidThinking Evolve, a design tool that allows rapid concept development and creation of digital models from sketches and ideas. This tool played a key role in enabling the contestants and the designers to explore multiple structural and aesthetic iterations. Altair HyperWorks’ Virtual Wind Tunnel (VWT), a CFD tool developed specifically to simulate and analyze the aerodynamics of a given object, was used to analyze the aerodynamics performance of the initial designs. This allowed the contestants to make significant improvements to their designs.

Impact #1	The partnership with Altair and the use of advanced design and simulation technologies resulted in a highly successful competition and a cutting-edge golf club design. The contestants were able to create digital models to evaluate the structural and technical details of their designs while simulating aerodynamic performance. This allowed them to identify and rectify issues early on in the design phase, freeing up valuable time to focus on improving other areas of the club. The winning design, the Triton, featured a white alignment stripe on the crown, two interchangeable sole plates, and three adjustable weight ports, making it the most flexible and customizable driver in the industry. The competition fostered a creative atmosphere and brought about new approaches to golf driver design thinking.

Impact #1

The partnership with Altair and the use of advanced design and simulation technologies resulted in a highly successful competition and a cutting-edge golf club design. The contestants were able to create digital models to evaluate the structural and technical details of their designs while simulating aerodynamic performance. This allowed them to identify and rectify issues early on in the design phase, freeing up valuable time to focus on improving other areas of the club. The winning design, the Triton, featured a white alignment stripe on the crown, two interchangeable sole plates, and three adjustable weight ports, making it the most flexible and customizable driver in the industry. The competition fostered a creative atmosphere and brought about new approaches to golf driver design thinking.

Benefit #1	Designs were verified earlier in development, saving time and resources
Benefit #2	Enhanced aerodynamics performance of the golf clubs
Benefit #3	Produced the most flexible and customizable driver in the industry

Benefit #1

Designs were verified earlier in development, saving time and resources

Benefit #2

Enhanced aerodynamics performance of the golf clubs

Benefit #3

Produced the most flexible and customizable driver in the industry

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Overview

Innovative Golf Club Design through IoT: Wilson's Driver vs. Driver Competition

Operational Impact

Quantitative Benefit