Instrumentation • Electronics
4 Design engineers do not think digitally - they think in terms of size, shapes and attributes, and even mathematical symbols in some cases. Whereas in the past they would have needed to write programs in languages like Fortran and C, Boris Sedacca argues that modern software tools allow them to visualise their designs in terms they understand.
4 Les ingénieurs concepteurs ne réfléchissent pas numériquement - ils réfléchissent en termes de taille, de formes et de caractéristiques et, dans certains cas, même en termes de symboles mathématiques. Tandis que, dans le passé, ils auraient dû écrire des programmes dans des langages comme le Fortran ou le C, Boris Sedacca est d’accord sur le fait que les outils logiciels modernes leur permettent de visualiser leurs conceptions dans des termes qu’ils comprennent.
4 Entwicklungsingenieure denken nicht digital – sie denken in Größe, Formen und Eigenschaften und in manchen Fällen sogar in mathematischen Symbolen. Während sie früher Programme in Sprachen wie Fortran und C hätten schreiben müssen, ist Boris Sedacca der Ansicht, dass moderne Softwaretools ihnen ermöglichen, ihre Entwicklungen in Formen zu visualisieren, die sie verstehe.
Analogue visualisation steers 3D design
F
ormerly a topic for geeks and engineers, 3D printing was a godsend for the media in May 2013 when it was revealed that Cody Wilson, a 25-year-old law
student and founder of the group Defense Distributed, successfully fired the world’s first gun made with a 3D printer in the US. The gun was assembled from 15 separate
printed components made from ABS plastic on a second-hand Stratasys Dimension SST 3D printer that cost $8,000 from eBay - only the firing pin was made from metal. Stratasys is the leading manufacturer of 3D printers for prototyping and manufacturing. A little less dramatically but also in May
2013, Stratasys announced that French remote control systems manufacturer, Survey Copter, is using its three dimensional printing technology to produce prototype and short-run component parts for mini-unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) systems, also known as drones. Survey Copter is a subsidiary of Cassidian,
which is the defence and security division of European Aeronautic Defence and Space (EADS) group. It designs complete remote systems for surveillance photography and video service applications for UAVs and other airborne craft, as well as for sea and overland vehicles. Survey Copter designs and manufactures
turnkey remote systems working in critical and severe environments/conditions at sea, in the air or over ground. These systems involve UAVs, robots, tanks and complex turret
systems, as well as data transmission and target tracking devices.
24-hour prototyping
Having previously outsourced its prototyping requirements, Survey Copter asked Stratasys for an in-house solution that would reduce costs and ensure greater efficiency and autonomy, allowing the company the means to rapidly produce very small quantities within 24 hours. Survey Copter has installed a Stratasys Dimension Elite 3D Printer and Stratasys Fortus 400mc 3D Production System, which offers nine production-grade engineering thermoplastics using Stratasys’ patented fused deposition modelling (FDM) technology. They are deployed in the production of component parts for the company’s mini-UAV systems, including both helicopter and fixed- wing variants weighing up to 30kg and 10kg respectively. Ranging from a few millimetres up to parts
measuring 40cm x 10cm, these components comprise mechanical structures for optical turrets, structural elements of aircraft, battery compartment housing, supporting structure, as well as scale models.
Different materials
Jean Marc Masenelli, managing director of Survey Copter, asserts that the ability to utilise different materials according to specific application needs offers key advantages for producing durable 3D printed parts.
Fig.1. Survey
Copter designs and manufactures turnkey remote systems working in critical and severe environments/conditions at sea, in the air or over ground.
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