Lightweighting is becoming vital in the automotive industry, and with good reason: a less heavy car/truck can achieve better fuel efficiency and handling. Carmakers therefore, increasingly bet on how to leverage lightweight materials, improve safety while enhancing performance.
One that has perfectly understood the rules of the game is XponentialWorks but bets on a much more useful tool: the combination of artificial intelligence and additive manufacturing/3D printing.
In a recently announced collaboration, the venture will partner with Arcimoto, Inc. ®, a manufacturer of electric vehicles based in the USA, to design and fabricate lightweighted components for Arcimoto’ s Fun Utility Vehicle® (FUV®).
Both teams aim to reduce cost, improve performance and efficiency while delivery an eco-friendly car.
Arcimoto’ s Fun Utility Vehicle® (FUV®)
As the name suggests, Arcimoto’s goal is to enable a daily and fun drive. Available at a starting price of $19,900, the vehicle can achieve up to 100 miles of city driving range.
With the technology brought by ParaMatters – a company of XponentialWorks – in the manufacturing process, Arcimoto’s electric vehicles would drive farther distances on a single charge, improve acceleration, and deliver better handling.
These improvements can be made possible thanks to ParaMetters’s lightweighted designs that require the use of artificial intelligence and computer-generated design in their development.
As a reminder, ParaMetters develops a CogniCAD software that uses AI to create designs by simply entering design goals and materials parameters. For those who do not know, AI can explore design permutations based on the design concept, and provide an optimal solution to lightweight parts.
As part of this collaboration, a press release revealed that lightweighted parts include:
- Rear swing arm: Regular part to be lightweighted by up to 34%
- Knuckle: Regular part to be lightweighted by up to 36%
- Upper control arm: Regular part to be lightweighted by up to 52%
- Brake pedal: Regular part to be lightweighted by up to 49%
“With the powerful combination of AI-generated designs and ultra-fast 3D printing processes, we are now able to create complex geometric structures which substantially lightweight vehicles, improve performance, lower production costs and save on battery power. We welcome this opportunity with Arcimoto to provide their drivers with the best possible in-vehicle experience,” said Avi Reichental. “In this new age of industry 4.0 manufacturing, no one company can do it all alone. This project demonstrates the power of curating relationships and building joint innovation programs that pool together resources and expertise from complementary organizations to create practical tractable products in record time.”
“We are thrilled to open Arcimoto’s ultra-efficient vehicle platform to XponentialWorks’ team of lightweighting and additive manufacturing experts,” said Arcimoto CEO Mark
Frohnmayer. “Our mission to rightsize the footprint of daily mobility means a continued commitment to optimizing not just the vehicle platform architecture, but all of its constituent parts as well. The speed at which the XponentialWorks team has made meaningful weight improvements to core components of the Fun Utility Vehicle is truly impressive.”
Remember, you can post free of charge job opportunities in the AM Industry on 3D ADEPT Media or look for a job via our job board. Make sure to follow us on our social networks and subscribe to our weekly newsletter : Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn & Instagram ! If you want to be featured in the next issue of our digital magazine or if you hear a story that needs to be heard, make sure to send it to contact@3dadept.com.