3D printed concept vehicle chassis with carbon fibre seat made from 3D printed tool. In the background, robot 3D printer.
Cost point for low volume automotive
production is now well within reach
S
caled Ltd have developed an in-
house 3D printing system based
on robotics. Over the course of
a weekend in August, Scaled printed
an entire concept vehicle chassis to
demonstrate how 3D printing could be
used for vehicle applications. 3D printing
in thermoplastic composite materials is
now a viable manufacturing technique for
structural applications, fast-make tooling
for composite prototype and large-scale
jigs. And the cost point for low volume
automotive production is now well within
reach.
The chassis build has far-reaching
implications. Today, the world is facing
competing pressures: high rates of
consumption of fossil fuels is affecting
the climate and levels of pollution; At the
same time, standards of living are going
up across the globe. More and more
people are earning enough to demand
the benefits of powered transportation.
One solution to these competing
pressures is electric vehicles. But
electric vehicles have failed to answer a
CAD representation of the concept vehicle
fundamental question: is it necessary to
use a 4-tonne van to transport a payload
of 150 kg?
The best solution is a vehicle only as
heavy as is needed for its task. A last-
mile delivery vehicle that weighs 150kg
saves significant energy when compared
with a 4-tonne alternative (however it is
powered).
To produce vehicles that exactly meet
the needs of their task you need a
flexible manufacturing technology
such as Scaled’s robotic 3D printing
system. A famous Henry Ford quote is
“Any customer can have a car painted
any colour that he wants so long as it is
black”. But with Scaled’s 3D printing the
ambition is quite different: “Any customer
can have a vehicle of any design that
they desire.”
Robot arms used in car plants are
automated for one repeatable task. For
Scaled, the robot is programmed for
different pathways over and over again
automatically, producing new 3D printed
parts each day.
This is production using a completely
flexible production system, in theory
able to produce hundreds of variants
of vehicle from the same small digital
factory, with variants’ design changes
unconstrained by tools, jigs or core
manufacturing processes.
Watch out for more developments and a
rolling vehicle.
www.scal3d.com
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