2004 Jeep Cherokee Instrument Panel on 2040-parts.com

Webinars: Incorporating Autodesk Maya into your Alias Workflow

How to incorporate Autodesk Maya into your Alias Workflow was the latest complimentary webinar brought to you by Autodesk and Car Design News. The webinar focused on examining the benefits of using polygon modeling for concept development. In particular it focused on the unique interaction that is possible between Autodesk Maya 2012 and Alias Automotive 2012, whilst exploring the workflow that moves data between both applications.

Tesla planning self-driving car

Tesla are planning a self-driving car Now that car makers have been fitting radar and sensors to their cars for some time, which allow stuff like adaptive cruise – which automatically slows behind traffic and can even bring the car to s stop on its own – the race is on to make cars even more autonomous. We’ve reported recently on the Mercedes Intelligent Drive S-Class that negotiated its way – more or less – on a 60 mile route in Germany, and on Volvo’s self-parking system which will take your car in to a multi storey car park by itself, park, and meet you when you return. Google has also been playing with self-driving cars and has even gained permission to run its autonomous cars in California, and now Tesla are joining the fray with plans for an autonomous car in the next three years.

Spy Shots: Chevy SS caught testing, rendered

Way back in June, Autoweek published a speculative rendering of the forthcoming Chevrolet SS. The Zeta-platform, rear-wheel-drive, V8-powered follow-up to the late Pontiac G8 was recently spotted testing by the spy photographers at Chris Doane Automotive. Doane was so inspired by General Motors' nascent performance sedan that he commissioned his own Chevy SS rendering.