RedEye, a business unit of Stratasys (NASDQ: SSYS), unveiled the world’s first full scale custom motorcycle, created entirely from using rapid prototype parts, at Autodesk University 2008.
Autodesk University (AU) is the annual user conference & exhibition for Autodesk, Inc, the world leader in 2D and 3D design software for the manufacturing, building and construction, and media and entertainment markets. The custom chopper was unveiled during the AU Design Innovation welcome presentation. The purpose of the session is to give engineers and designers a compelling glimpse of the future of design innovation and see some of the technologies that are changing the way design is done across the world.
During the welcome presentation, Autodesk featured on large-screen monitors a contiguous process showing the timeline from initial concept through design, to rendering, ultimately leading to physical design verification in the form of a true full-scale Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM) prototype chopper, which was lowered from the ceiling on cables. Autodesk celebrated this achievement with an announcement that it is now possible to generate 3D prints like the motorcycle directly from within AutoCAD, one of the world’s leading design and documentation platforms. This web service links to RedEye over the web, allowing prints to be created then sent back to the AutoCAD user.
“The audience was awestruck during the presentation by first viewing the initial model and rendering on a large screen to seconds later watching the full-scale prototype slowly emerge from stories above,” says Stratasys CEO Scott Crump.
The prototype chopper included many fully functional parts, including: articulating steering, illuminating headlights, and rotating wheels, demonstrating how the FDM process can give designers the functionality they look for in quality production parts. Built using ABS M30 high-strength, production-grade thermoplastic, the chopper components were tough enough to suspend the bike from two stories above. Furthermore, the chopper’s exterior vibrantly displayed the designer’s true vision of color for each part.
MPF
