INDUSTRY NEWS
Rock Island Arsenal to Build FANG Challenge Award Winning Design Te U.S. Defense Advanced
Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded a $1 million prize to “Ground Systems,” a three-person team with members in Ohio, Texas and California, as the winner of its Fast Adaptable Next-Generation Ground Vehicle (FANG) Mobility/ Drivetrain Challenge. Te drivetrain challenge was the first of three steps in the program, which will culmi- nate in the full amphibious military vehicle design. Te winning FANG design will be
built by the DARPA iFAB program team. iFAB, or Instant Foundry Adaptive through Bits, is led by the Applied Research Laboratory at Penn State Univ. and will validate the manufacturability feedback, casting configuration and instruction generation tools as part of the build process. Te as-built design will be subjected to test and evaluation under the leadership of the FANG performer, Ricardo Inc. of Van Buren Township, Mich. Among the project partners in-
volved in casting, machining and fab- ricating the metal vehicle components
is Rock Island Arsenal, Rock Island, Ill., where the final vehicle assembly will take place. “The iFAB Foundry will help
revolutionize the design and build- ing process for complex defense systems with the goal of shorten- ing development time by a factor of five,” according to Mark Traband, who heads up the Manufacturing Systems Division of Penn State’s Applied Research Laboratory. “We want to move away from a capital- intensive manufacturing facility aimed at one product and toward flexible, programmable, distributed
production that can accommodate many systems and variations and reconfigure quickly.” Te iFAB vision is to create a flex-
ible, programmable, potentially dis- tributed production capability able to accommodate a wide range of systems and system variants with extremely rapid reconfiguration timescales. Te FANG program will test
specially developed META design tools, model libraries and the Ve- hicleFORGE collaboration platform, which were created to significantly compress the design-to-production time of a complex defense system.
ONLINE RESOURCE
Visit
metalcastingtv.com to watch a video about the FANG Challenge.
Team Ground Systems’ final drivetrain design received the highest score when measured against the established requirements for system performance and manufacturability.
Chassix, Troy, Mich., has launched as a single integrated source for preci- sion chassis casting and machining solutions. It was formed following Platinum Equity’s purchase and subsequent integration of the Diversi- fied Machine Inc. (DMI) and SMW Automotive LLC (SMW) businesses, resulting in the creation of a $1.2 billion global automotive supplier. Robert J. (Bob) Remenar will serve as president and CEO of the newly integrated business.
Chassix Makes Global Debut, Announces Expansion Te company has manufacturing
operations in the U.S., Mexico, South America, Europe and China. As Chassix optimizes its global footprint, its plants in Georgia, Michigan and Indiana will see new investment this year, according to Remenar. Addition- ally, Chassix will expand in Brazil and China to serve those markets. “Te combination of these two
large, complementary businesses not only doubles our global footprint but also marries two distinct areas of
expertise: DMI’s leadership in casting with SMW’s leading 24/7 design and engineering expertise in machining,” Remenar said. Te business has more than 3,600 employees in 25 locations in eight countries.
Te name Chassix reflects the
automotive chassis components that have been the bedrock of the DMI and SMW product lines, while the “x” im- plies a multiplier of the new company’s size and strength as well as its mission to exceed customer expectations.
June 2013 MODERN CASTING | 9
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