Skip to main content

3D Printing Beats Steel for BMW Prototype: Clemson University Saves 75% on Costs for Deep Orange Project

By
In 2011, CU-ICAR kicked off its fourth Deep Orange project with a sponsorship from BMW Manufacturing, Co. who also provided the main project objectives. BMW required the Deep Orange 4 vehicle to be based on BMW X3, targeting a niche market of performance-oriented SUV customers who want both best-in-class utility and space as well as a luxury design and experience. BMW also required a cost-efficient, low-volume manufacturing plan that wouldn’t negatively impact its existing production processes.


Clemson University, one of the top 20 universities in the country according to US News and World Report, is home to the nations only graduate Department of Automotive Engineering located at the Clemson University International Center for Automotive Research (CU-ICAR).
In addition to excellent research and faculty, CU-ICAR attracts many students and employers with its Deep Orange project. Deep Orange is a two-year vehicle prototype project that students are required to complete in order to receive a masters or Ph.D. in automotive engineering. From the time they enter into the program until graduation, students are immersed in the hands-on process of vehicle design, engineering, prototyping and production. Read More >>


Popular posts from this blog

Delivering High Quantities of Prototypes Fast

By
Objective3D Direct Manufacturing produces parts using a range of additive and conventional manufacturing technologies. We offer tailored solutions for your project’s needs. If your project requires larger quantities of small parts – fast, Laser Sintering is the best technological solution for you. Per-part pricing is reduced as quantities increase, but there are more advantages to using Laser Sintering for small prototypes than price alone. Laser Sintering (LS) provides strong, versatile and geometrically intricate components made from filled and un-filled nylon materials that are ideal for fit and form verification and functional testing. Prototypes made with LS are created quickly and offer robust solutions for your project. FAST Delivery Laser Sintering can provide sturdy, functional prototypes as little as 24 hours. Multi-component designs can be incorporated into single structures, allowing engineers to produce complex features and geometries in one print, and elim...
Read more

How Artec Space Spider helps measure the shape-shifting of birds in response to climate change.

By
Challenge:  In the past century, researchers have been studying a variety of birds in Australia to see how their bodies have changed as a result of global warming in order to determine how to adjust. In order to document the exact dimensions of thousands of beaks of 86 different species of birds in museums in a fast, accurate, and convenient manner, they needed a fast, accurate, and convenient method. Solution: Artec Space Spider, Artec Studio Results: By using the handheld 3D scanner Artec Space Spider, each bird can be scanned in submillimeter colour 3D in approximately two minutes. This makes it easy to scan anywhere from 30-50 birds in one museum visit. Scan processing takes just under six minutes for each bird. PhD candidate Sara Ryding 3D scanning an Australian galah (Eolophus roseicapilla) with Artec Space Spider (image credit: Sara Ryding) One of the most startling impacts of global warming has taken place for decades now: multiple species of birds around the world have b...
Read more

3D scanning and reverse engineering streamline original furniture design and production

By
MU Form Furniture Design is an Oakland-based company that designs, manufactures and distributes furniture products for the modern home and business. The company is never short of orders since good and original design is sought after by architects and interior designers. The main material MU Form works with is high-quality bent ply, which is one of the most widely used materials in this industry due to its ability to create a variety of shapes for chairs, stools, and tables. The company’s specialists seek to create great designs that pose a challenge for other manufacturers to copy or replicate. The V Dining Chair in red and grey, designed by MU Form’s Po Shun Leong. “Our designers are tasked to develop furniture designs that require a significant amount of trial and error by developing physical prototypes of chairs and stools,” says Mark Leong, CEO of MU Form. To produce a new original piece of furniture, MU Form would normally ship a physical prototype model to a factory ...
Read more