2013 Ford Escape Interior Spaces Measured with Pingpong Balls?

If you?ve ever had to measure a cramped, irregular-shaped space with a ruler or measuring tape, you know it can be a frustrating and inaccurate process. Ford?s engineers adopted a creative method for calculating interior volume on vehicles such as the 2013 Ford Escape. Ford?s instrument of choice? A pingpong ball.

In the past, Ford estimated the volume of glove boxes the old-fashioned way ? taking readings with measuring tape and multiplying length times width times height. But engineers were dissatisfied with this method?s accuracy, as angles and curves made it difficult to be precise and consistent. During a team brainstorm one day, a Ford engineer suggested the use of pingpong balls to measure the spaces.

??Pingpong balls are more accurate than using a tape measure to get the volume of odd-shaped spaces like a glove compartment,? said Ford vehicle architecture supervisor Eric Jackson in a release. ??[we] did some studies using pingpong balls and found capacities were more consistently measured.?

If two people measured the same compartment with a measuring tape, Ford found they would often come up with different numbers. Using pingpong balls, on the other hand, two people are more likely to arrive at the same answer. A cubic measurement of a single pingpong ball was developed, which takes into consideration the space between each ball when piled inside a compartment. That calculation, combined with the number of balls that fit into a space, is used to determine its volume.

In addition to its unorthodox pingpong ball measurement, Ford also utilizes computer-aided design tools like a laser scanner, which can reproduce a surface in three-dimensional space for more accurate measurements.

So how many pingpong balls can the Ford Escape fit? About 56,778. Not a bad result considering that vehicle?s 68.1-cubic-feet cargo volume with rear seats folded down, and 34.3 cubic-feet behind the second-row seats. Using the pingpong ball method, the 2012 Honda CRV would likely be able to fit a few more, as it boasts 70.9 cubic-feet behind the front seats, and 37.2 cubic-feet behind the second-row. The 2013 Mazda CX-5 could fit close to the same number of hollow plastic balls as the Escape, with its 65.4-cubic-feet cargo volume behind the front seats and 34.1 cubic feet of space behind the rear seats.

Though cubic-feet is the accepted unit of measurement for cargo capacities today, perhaps in the future ? if Ford?s method catches on ? you?ll see pingpong ball capacity listed in manufacturer spec charts.

Source: Ford

Source: http://wot.motortrend.com/2013-ford-escape-interior-spaces-measured-with-pingpong-balls-235287.html

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