During my time at MCAE systems, s.r.o., I was given the task of redesigning the existing spoiler design, which, among other things, did not include the brake light. Modern 3D technologies such as 3D scanning, reverse engineering and 3D printing were widely used during this project. By the way, result of my effort was a one of stunning thing on IEF 2018.
*IEF 2018 - International Engineering Fair in Brno, CZ
In the summer of 2018, a few months before the fair, I saw the Lotus Elise 220, a yellow sports car on the company parking lot, in the morning on my way to work. Already in the past, various owners of veterans vainly searching for an adequate spare part reached out to us with a request to reproduce a new part based on the old part. The usual procedure for the customer is to deliver a component that is somehow damaged or incomplete and thus unusable. In the initial phase of reconstruction and re-production, the original part had been scanned, in other words, its physical form was converted into digital form. Of course, the computer model contained some errors and the defected shape of its model. It was, therefore, necessary to repair the model and add missing features to create a faithful replica. However, sometimes there is a requirement to modify the model, where the shape is changed or new elements are added.
The same case was the production of a spoiler for the mentioned Lotus sports car. The car is not produced with a standard spoiler, but this Lotus was already equipped with a spoiler, which, in the words of the owner, „was not entirely satisfactory and had to be modified“. My task was to remove the dent in the center of the original shape and create a contiguous and aerodynamic clean shape that would copy the shape of the original spoiler in the side sections. The problem I would have to deal with was the absence of a CAD model of the brake light. I had to use real light and just like the spoiler, it was transferred to digital form. It was then possible to design the light holder in the spoiler, including the tunnel for power cable routing.
Within the framework of the presentation of other skills of the company and the demonstration of using modern technology as fast prototype production, a new spoiler using 3D printing from ABS material was produced. The length of the wing made it impossible to produce a spoiler as a single block, so the model had to be divided into several sections in digital form. Since, in addition to the static presentation, driving tests were also envisaged and it was clear that using only glue the glued-on parts would not hold together, steel rod reinforcements were included in the spoiler design.
Used software:
- Atos Gom
- Tebis CAD/CAM
- Solid Works
