{"id":2708,"date":"2014-07-16T09:00:39","date_gmt":"2014-07-16T09:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/indogomagazine.com\/indogo\/?p=2708"},"modified":"2014-07-21T07:20:39","modified_gmt":"2014-07-21T07:20:39","slug":"rapid-prototyping","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/indogomagazine.com\/indogo\/rapid-prototyping\/","title":{"rendered":"Rapid Prototyping"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ford Motor Corp Invents New Way To Shape Metal<\/strong><\/p>\n

The English Wheel is a tool, some call it a machine, that allows a sheet of metal to be formed. It requires a skilled craftsman to use it, and although it is a time-consuming process, it can create a variety of shapes and forms by stretching the metal. NASCAR uses it to create new prototypes, for example. Ford Motor F -0.11% Company is developing an English Wheel, on steroids, so to speak, with a unique, patented process they call the \u201cFord Freeform Fabrication Technology\u201d or F3T, for short.<\/p>\n

I received an in-depth look at this new technology while visiting the Ford Research and Innovation Center. This visit was not on my original itinerary, but the team from Hill and Knowlton Strategies in Detroit suggested I add it \u2014 and I\u2019m incredibly glad I did.<\/p>\n

\"Ford<\/a>

Ford F3T Prototyping<\/p><\/div>\n

One of the challenges repeatedly heard about 3D printing is that it is not fast enough and that it cannot handle big metal auto size items. It is coming, it is coming, is the mantra we hear and I believe part of that conversation, but for right now, big manufacturers, and small ones \u2013 are in the business of producing parts, on a large scale, and 3D printing has not yielded the results to convince those players of its true and huge value. Yet.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t get me wrong \u2013 many, many are working toward solving these challenges and I\u2019m hearing these stories on the long roadtrip I\u2019m taking right now. You are welcome to share your experiences, your inventions, your ideas in the comments below and I would love to hear them.<\/p>\n

What Ford is doing here is impressive. A piece of sheet metal (aluminum or titanium approximately 3mm thick) is clamped on all four sides while two robot arms, one underneath, one above, move a roundhead stylus across the sheet metal blank. The team is working on some genius code to take the 3D CAD data and convert it to commands that the robot can follow \u2013 the metal is shaped by a combination of the tool path and pressure. No small task and that\u2019s why we haven\u2019t seen this technology before \u2013 it is a rather complicated problem to solve.<\/p>\n

\"Ford<\/a><\/p>\n

According to the Ford F3T team \u2013 once the technology is fully developed, it will allow for lower costs and ultrafast delivery times for prototypes \u2013 within two to three days versus conventional methods that take anywhere from two to six months. Remember, to do this kind of work would have traditionally required the tooling of dies and casts that allow metal to be stamped into shape \u2013 an expensive and time-intensive process, to say the least.<\/p>\n

Other applications exist, for sure, outside of automotive circles \u2013 with aerospace, defense, transportation and appliance industries lining up to take a look at what this new technology can do. Right now, the F3T robot arms can handle an 18\u00d718 inch square of sheet metal. As you can see in the photos, not all of that area is workable, however.<\/p>\n

There are not many English wheel craftsman left in the world. It is an art and science that is worth preserving, but perhaps with more modern approaches that allow a new generation of skilled operators to explore new paths of changing the shape of metal.<\/p>\n

========================<\/p>\n

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