Patent ID: 7133812

Claim:
A method of parametric design of an instrument panel support structure for an instrument panel in a vehicle comprising the steps of: selecting a vehicle body style for the vehicle from a vehicle library stored in a memory of a computer system; orienting an occupant within the vehicle body; orienting a steering column within the vehicle body; selecting a locating parameter for locating an instrument panel support structure within the vehicle body; selecting an attaching parameter for attaching the instrument panel support structure within the vehicle body; selecting a predetermined condition for the instrument panel support structure within the vehicle body; electronically generating a parametric design of an instrument panel support structure using the locating parameter, the attaching parameter and the predetermined condition; packaging an instrument panel component within the parametric design of the instrument panel support structure; determining if the parametric design of the instrument panel support structure meets a predetermined criteria using a computer-aided analytical technique; determining if the parametric design of the instrument panel support structure should be changed if the predetermined criteria is not met; determining if a parameter should be changed if the parametric design of the instrument panel support structure should be changed; modifying the parameter if the parameter should be changed; and using a computer-aided engineering analytical technique to determine whether the design of the instrument panel support structure meets a predetermined criteria.