Students Race 3D Printed Cars

The Utah Valley University recently held a competition in which students designed "pinewood derby" style race cars - and then printed them out for actual racing. This derby began in 2008, when Professor David Manning of their Engineering Graphics & Design Technology department managed to convince the budgeteers to acquire a Dimension 3D printer. 

 

Almost 200 students from across Utah come together for the 2010 competition, which involves design and actual racing: 

 

The competition is designed to test students’ ability to conceptualize a model car design; produce a virtual 3D model using constraint-based modeling software; configure each design to accommodate standard parts, meet size, weight and track dimension specifications; manufacture a car using the Dimension 3D Printer and then race it against others. Points are awarded for marketing illustrations, detail drawings, appearance, features and speed. Winners are awarded prizes based on performance.

 

We think this is an incredible way to solidify the meaning of design in the minds of students: Design doesn't mean much unless it becomes real, either in 2D or 3D, and achieves the purpose you intended. 

 

Oh, you're wondering what prize was awarded to the winners? Trophies, of course. Printed on the Dimension 3D printer!

 

(Hat tip to Jessica)

Materialise Shapes F3 Euro Series Cars

3D service Materialise has been working with the Signature F3 Euro Series team to fine tune their racing cars, apparently quite successfully.

 

The approach is to duplicate the aerodynamic scenario by testing a scale model of the proposed car design in a wind tunnel. By tweaking the shape of critical parts, the airflow can be highly optimized with great confidence the same effects will occur at full size on the track. 

 

Materialise produced a starter set of 50 parts for testing, but this will increase to approximately 200 through the four test sets. The car model is scaled to one metre in length so that parts can be easily produced and tested. Precision manufacturing is absolutely required in order to ensure accurate airflow. Materialise achieved this using their laser sintering capabilities. 

 

(Note: the image above is *not* from the actual Signature test; that, of course, is Top Secret.) 

  

How did they do? They finished first and second in the initial two races!

 

Via Materialise

Converting the Camaro

What do you do if you live in Australia and want an American muscle car? It's difficult if they're not sold locally, so you'd have to purchase them in the US and ship them over the Pacific. But then you run into the problem of orientation: the US cars are designed to drive on the right-hand side of the road, while Australians drive on the other.
 
No problem - you can get them shipped and converted to Australian Drive by Performax International, who are now licensed to transfer and convert up to 200 vehicles per year.
 
What's their secret? 3D technology is a key part of their formula: they use 3D scanners to capture precise measurements of parts requiring re-orientation. At the touch of a button, software reverses the polarity of the 3D model, which is then printed. No, it's not the final object, but instead the 3D print is used to prepare a mould that can be used repeatedly.

Is this successful? We suspect so, as they seem to be able to charge up to AUD$135,000 (USD$121,000) for a Camaro that costs only AUD$38,000 (USD$34,000) if purchased in the US directly. Why so much price uplift? There's the shipping, conversions, commissions, taxes and tariffs to worry about. But we suspect they're making good dollars on this venture, as they expect to sell 60 Camaros in 2010-11.

Via The Australian and Performax International

Could the Trabant ReMaterialise?

The Trabant, for those of you who aren't familiar with it, was an automobile made in East Germany before reunification. For more than 30 years, the Trabant was one of the most popular vehicles in East Germany, and in fact when the wall came down in the late 1980's, Trabants carried many migrating East Germans to the west.

However, as an automobile the Trabant lacked, well, a lot of things. As with many eastern European industries, it was unable to compete in a western setting and its production was discontinued in 1991.

And then at the 2009 Internationale Automobil- Ausstellung (IAA) in Frankfurt it was revealed that the Trabant might be resurrected! Called the Trabant nT (for "newTrabi"), the 21st century Trabant is a long way from its 1960's ancestors, as it includes modern tech including an electric engine.

What does this have to do with fabbing? It turns out that one of the leading 3D print services, Materialise, is working closely with the manufacturer (Herpa) to build "both interior and exterior automotive parts with fused deposition modelling technology". According to Materialise representative Patrick Lucht:

The German automotive industry is one of our largest customer groups. When we had the opportunity to take part in the ‘newTrabi’ project, we did not hesitate for a second to support the production of this vehicle that is so closely connected with the history of modern Germany. Also in the upcoming serial production we see a lot of potential for our additive manufacturing technologies, which are ideal for manufacturing vehicles in limited numbers.

DNA technology was once touted as a way to resurrect dinosaurs. Could 3D printing be a way to resurrect dead automobiles?

Via Wikipedia and Materialise