Volvo Car Corporation Orders $6 Million of MTS's Advanced Technology

18 January 2000
Volvo Car Corporation Orders $6 Million of MTS's Advanced Technology
    EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn., Jan. 17 -- Newly introduced software and
hardware technology for evaluating car designs are key ingredients in a
$6 million order received by MTS Systems Corporation
headquartered here.  The order was placed by Volvo Car Corporation,
Gothenburg, Sweden.
    "Key elements of this order include recently developed
six-degree-of-freedom road simulation systems, our new SWIFT(TM) Ultra
titanium wheel force transducers, and our state-of-the art RPC(R) Pro road
simulation software," said MTS CEO Sidney W. Emery, Jr.  "Together they
provide Volvo with the means to reduce development time for new cars.  This
validates our strategy of providing a full range of hardware, software and
support services to assist customers in accelerating designs to market."
    The new Model 329 six-degree-of-freedom (6DOF) road simulators are ideally
suited to testing vehicle suspensions.  This major advance in design (patent
pending) adds camber and steer to vertical, lateral, and longitudinal
translation, and brake rotation. The result is improved fatigue and durability
analysis and prediction -- both through real and virtual prototype
development.
    SWIFT measurement systems (patent pending) acquire road and testing data
from all six components of motion at the vehicle spindle, both in the
laboratory and on the test track. They are the perfect complement to the new
329 6DOF road simulator.
    New RPC Pro software adds intelligent diagnostics, and automatic data
management to create a more user-friendly, open, and customizable environment
-- critical features to accelerate the design evaluation process.
    MTS Systems Corporation manufactures computer-based testing and simulation
systems for determining the mechanical behavior of materials, products, and
structures, and measurement and control instrumentation products for the
automation of the manufacturing processes. The company had 2,400 employees
worldwide and revenues of $390 million in the fiscal year ending September
1999.  Additional information on MTS can be found on the worldwide web at
http://www.mts.com