Tag Archives: automotive
Artec 3D Scanners Used by Hyundai Europe to Develop Automobile Seats
Leading 3D Scanner Company Artec Delivers Automotive Solutions
In our coverage of 3D printing, there is increasing interest in 3D scanners as a key source of digital input for both rapid prototyping and product development. From simple Kinect-based scanners to the MakerBot Digitizer to Kickstarter campaigns, it seems like more and more 3D scanners are coming to market.
In this article we profile Luxembourg-based Artec Group, a leader in 3D scanning and 3D facial recognition technology that has partnered with Hyundai Europe to help develop automobile seats.
Related: Will 3D Scanners Usher in a New Era of Copyright Infringement?
Two different Artec scanners are being used by Hyundai Motor Europe to create 3D models of automobile seats for new cars. These models can then be tested and modified for maximum safety and comfort.
The Artec L scanner captures the geometry of a seat from different angles. Then the smaller, intricate details of a seat are scanned with the Artec MHT scanner and the data is combined to make a complete, highly precise 3D model of the car seat.
Both scanning devices are portable and easy to use which means that they can be taken to different Hyundai locations.
Watch this narrated video to see how the Artec 3D scanners are used by Hyundai.
Learn more about Artec at www.artec3d.com.
Related articles:
- Radiant Fabrication Wants to Be the iTunes of 3D Printing
- Fuel3D Handheld 3D Scanner Closes in on $300,000 Kickstarter Funding
- MakerBot Digitizer Desktop 3D Scanner Goes On Sale for $1400, Video from Bre
- 3D Scanning for 3D Printing: How Kickstarter is Changing the Game
- Video: Burning Man Team Offers 3D Prints of Burners in the Desert
- Do The Mutation: 3D Printed Masks Take Art to a New Level of Personal
- The MakerBot Met Hackathon Spreads with Art Derivations
3D Printing Iron: ExOne Announces New Metals for 3D Printing
ExOne Enables 3D Printing in Iron
The ExOne Company (NASDAQ:XONE), a global provider of 3D printing machines and printed products to industrial customers, announced that it added iron infiltrated with bronze as a new 3D printing material and has also increased its suite of binder solutions for its 3D printing process.
ExOne filed for IPO at the beginning of 2013.
ExOne’s strategy is to expand its direct metal printing capabilities to increase opportunities in the industrial marketplace. Iron is widely used in the manufacturing of machine tools, automotive parts and general support structures. Part of the reason for iron’s popularity as an industrial product is its cost effectiveness. Manufacturing iron-based products using ExOne’s 3D printing technology allows for the direct creation of more intricate products than traditional manufacturing processes, and creates a more cost effective alternative to current 3D printing materials such as stainless steel. ExOne believes that the addition of iron to its metal portfolio will be well received by customers in the traditional markets for iron. ExOne prioritized its development of iron infiltrated with bronze as a result of general customer interest and the breadth of the manufacturing market.
To further develop its reach into the molds and casting industry, ExOne has added phenolic and sodium silicate to its suite of binders for use in its 3D printing process. Phenolic binder, used with ceramic sand in the 3D printing of molds and cores, offers customers three benefits:
- Casting higher heat alloys,
- Creating a higher strength mold or core, and
- Improving the quality of the casting due to reduced expansion of the mold or core.
These capabilities address challenges faced by the automotive, aviation, hydraulic/heavy equipment and pump industries.
ExOne believes that sodium silicate binder will appeal to casting houses that are in search of cleaner environmental processes. It is further believed that the use of sodium silicate will reduce or eliminate the release of fumes and gas in the casting process, helping to reduce costs associated with air ventilation, and electrical and maintenance equipment.
Rick Lucas, ExOne’s Chief Technology Officer, commented, “We are excited to add iron infiltrated with bronze to our product offerings. We continue to focus on the development of our other metals and materials. We remain committed to releasing at least one new material every six months. Our priorities are defined by the needs of our current customers and as we uncover new opportunities with prospective customers.”
ExOne’s Material Applications Laboratory (ExMAL), currently has eleven other materials under various stages of development. ExOne has been focused on 3D printing for industrial customers since 2005.
About ExOne
ExOne is a global provider of 3D printing machines and printed products to industrial customers. ExOne’s business primarily consists of manufacturing and selling 3D printing machines and printing products to specification for its customers using its in‐house 3D printing machines. ExOne offers pre‐production collaboration and prints products through Production Service Centers, which are located in the United States, Germany and Japan. ExOne builds 3D printing machines at its facilities in the United States and Germany. ExOne also supplies the associated products, including consumables and replacement parts, and services, including training and technical support, necessary for purchasers of its machines to print products.
3D Printed Car Urbee 2 Announced: Light, Aerodynamic, and Custom Made
Last June, we featured Urbee, the first 3D printed car. Optimized for renewable energy, this novel design promises 200 miles per gallon. Details about the next generation design, called Urbee 2, are now coming to light as the car nears production.
It has a metal chassis but a plastic frame, 3 wheels and weighs only 1,200 pounds. And nearly everything is made through 3D printing.
Jim Kor, head of Kor Ecologic, talks about the process of designing the Urbee series in the video below.
In an interview with Kor, Wired also shares new details about the new 3D printed car.
“We thought long and hard about doing a second one,” [Kor] says of the Urbee. “It’s been the right move.”
Kor and his team built the three-wheel, two-passenger vehicle at RedEye, an on-demand 3-D printing facility. The printers he uses create ABS plastic via Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM). The whole car – which is about 10 feet long – takes about 2,500 hours [to produce].
Besides easy reproduction, making the car body via FDM affords Kor the precise control that would be impossible with sheet metal. The current model has a curb weight of just 1,200 pounds.
Kor used the design freedom of 3D printing to combine a typical car’s multitude of parts into simple unibody shapes. For example, when he prints the car’s dashboard, he’ll make it with the ducts already attached without the need for joints and connecting parts. What would be dozens of pieces of plastic and metal end up being one piece of 3D printed plastic.
“The thesis we’re following is to take small parts from a big car and make them single large pieces,” Kor says. By using one piece instead of many, the car loses weight and gets reduced rolling resistance, and with fewer spaces between parts, the Urbee ends up being exceptionally aerodynamic.” How aerodynamic? The Urbee 2′s teardrop shape gives it just a 0.15 coefficient of drag.
More from Wired.
Can 3D printing revolutionize the car industry?
Infographic: How 3D Printing Works, Industry Growth, Stocks, and More
Want to see all of the key 3D printing industry stats in one place? The team at HighTable.com has published this infographic below, with data from on3dprinting.com and Forbes.
The First 3D Printed Car Optimizes Design for Renewable Energy
How do you design the most efficient car on the road that can run on renewable energy? You prototype, a lot, with 3D printing.
That is what KOR EcoLogic did using Autodesk software and Stratasys’ digital manufacturing service. The car, called Urbee, gets 200 miles per gallon.
“The Urbee was designed from the ground up to be as efficient as possible, and to run on renewable energy,” said Jim Kor, president and chief technology officer of KOR EcoLogic. “From concept through rendering, Autodesk software helped us not only build an efficient and sustainable car, but also communicate our designs to a broader audience, including potential investors.”
Urbee is truly the first car to have its entire body 3D printed.
The KOR EcoLogic team began by developing a set of core principles and pinning them to their workshop wall. Among them, the Urbee was designed to use minimal energy and produce less pollution during its design, manufacturing, operation and recycling stages, while remaining affordable and visually appealing.
“Startup clean tech companies need technology enabling them to create professional, fully realized and tested designs, while benefiting from visually stunning imagery of their products,” said Robert “Buzz” Kross, senior vice president, Autodesk Manufacturing Industry Group. “KOR EcoLogic is a great example of the combined power of Digital Prototyping and sustainable design.”
The Urbee team used Autodesk Inventor software to design a 3D digital prototype of the car’s body and subject it to simulated road and wind conditions, test different body designs to minimize drag and reduce overall weight by eliminating excess parts. More than 80 percent of a product’s environmental impact can be determined during the design phase, making Inventor a critical component in establishing the Urbee’s high level of environmental responsibility. KOR EcoLogic used Autodesk Showcase 3D visualization software to create photorealistic renderings of the Urbee for marketing to potential investors, partners and the general public.
Below is a video of the Urbee on a test drive.
Via dexigner.
