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Posted on 03/03/2013 6:34:52 PM PST by Kevmo
The 3D-Printed Urbee 2 Hybrid Car is Light, Strong, and Nearing Production
by Morgana Matus, 03/03/13
Nothing says “Welcome to the Future” like a 3D-printed runabout vehicle with a hybrid engine, three wheels, speeds of up to 110 mph, and capacity to carry up to 1,200 lbs. The Urbee 2 is the result of Jim Kor’s dream for a modern, sustainable vehicle that will someday revolutionize the way that we commute. The exterior’s lightweight construction of ABS plastic allows for a minimum amount of drag and fuel required to operate the car, and it’s stronger and more easily manipulated than steel. Able to hold two passengers, the Urbee could very well be the next big thing in urban transportation.
3-D Printer ping!
For the 3D printing ping list
3-D Printer ping!
You’re surrounded...
Here’s the PhysOrg article.
Kor Ecologic Urbee 2 car will move from 3-D printer to road
February 28, 2013 by Nancy Owano Enlarge (Phys.org)
—Let’s put it simply. An engineer named Jim Kor is printing, as in building, a car. The Winnipeg, Manitoba, car visionary is responsible for the Urbee 2, being readied for the road, intended eventually as an about-town car, with three wheels, and built for two passengers. It looks like a big, shiny red bug cruising down the road. Interest grows in its means of production and implications for car manufacturing in the future. google_protectAndRun(”render_ads.js::google_render_ad”, google_handleError, google_render_ad);Ads by GoogleThe Honda Fit EV - 100% Electric. Not a drop of gas. Learn more at the Official Site. - www.Honda.com If printing cars develop, conventional manufacturing plants might operate aside very small “cottage” plants deploying lights-out manufacturing. Kor’s company, Kor Ecologic, is responsible for the Urbee 2, described as strong as steel yet lightweight. (The motto for the company is “Reasonable Design.”) By using 3-D printing, there is a special focus on lightness but strength; he is creating large pieces with varied thicknesses. The Urbee’s car body will be assembled from about 50 separate parts. The team’s practice is to take small part from a big car and make them into single large pieces. The less pieces, the less car weight. The lighter the car, the more miles per gallon. The less spaces between parts and the Urbee becomes the more aerodynamic. The teardrop-shaped car has a curb weight of 1,200 pounds. The bumper, which is made in two pieces, required 300 hours to finish. The entire car takes about 2,500 hours. jwplayer(”VIDpreview10390”).setup({ id: ‘player10390’, skin: “http://cdn.physorg.com/tmpl/v3/mediaplayer/skins/bekle.zip";, image: “”, height: 375, width: 500, ‘logo.file’: “http://cdn.physorg.com/tmpl/v3/mediaplayer/watermark.png";, ‘logo.position’ : “top-left”, plugins: {”gapro-1”: { accountid: “UA-73855-14”, idstring: “VID: 10390” } }, allowscriptaccess: “always”, modes: [ {type: “flash”, src: “http://cdn.physorg.com/tmpl/v3/mediaplayer/player.swf";, config: {file: “http://www.youtube.com/watch/?v=FOh_m9pPvDo";} }, {type: “html5”, config: {file: “”} } ] }); The printing process to make the car is called Fused Deposition Modeling. (FDM), where one lays down thin layers (0.04 mm) of melted plastic filament. The FDM approach enables tight control by the designer, who is able to add thickness and rigidity to special sections. (Kor likes to compare the fender of a future Urbee with a bird bone. As shown in a cross section of a bird bone, he said there is bone only where the bird needs strength, and the FDM process can replicate a bird bone.) Kor has been printing the body pieces at RedEye, a business unit of Stratasys, which uses 3-D printers to produce on-demand parts and prototypes. Kor Ecologic has drawn up specific design ideals that are applied to the Urbee car project..A few of them are highlighted here. “Use the least amount of energy possible for every kilometer traveled. Cause as little pollution as possible during manufacturing, operation and recycling of the car. Use materials available as close as possible to where the car is built. Use materials that can be recycled again and again…. Be simple to understand, build, and repair. Be as safe as possible to drive. Be affordable.” Kor does not have a high-priced toy in mind but rather an economy car. He has received orders for 14 cars. Most of the orders are from those involved in designing the car. Kor is presently planning to make one car and to drive it, when it is ready, with a partner, from San Francisco to New York City. They hope to do it on ten gallons of gas; Kor would prefer to use pure ethanol. They will try to prove without argument that they did the drive with existing traffic. More information: www.stratasys.com/Resources/Case-Studies/Automotive-FDM-Technology-Case-Studies/Urbee.aspx www.urbee.net/home/
Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2013-02-kor-ecologic-urbee-car-d.html#jCp
don't think i want to ride 110mph in anything with only three wheels... specially when it's made of plastic!!!
I hope they ran it through spell check before they hit print.
Typos would be costly.
Back to bubble cars, eh? Cousin Itt would be proud.
If the 2500 hour number in the story is not a misprint, that means it takes 104 days nonstop to generate the body?
FDM and 3D printing in general is a rapid prototyping tool. Anyone who thinks we will see low-cost parts and products make by 3D printing will need to start by printing off a time machine. Sure the process will become faster but as Scotty famously said “ye canna break the lawsa physics!”
If you look at the pic of the internals, it’s got quite a massive tube frame chassis and roll cage which makes the 1200 lb weight seem dubious.
Also 10 hp is pretty weak, even with e-assist for acceleration.
It’s a start. It is a bit of a disruptive technology, for firearms and soon cars. Eventually with an open-source approach and a cottage industry, cars like this project would overtake the current industry within 15 years.
One cannot choose how one will die, but for me it won’t be in that death trap.
Three wheels are fun. The Morgan 3 wheel from the 1930s was both fun and fast—especially the super sport. I would like to see a return to these small fast fun cars—mileage was great. It used a two cylinder motorcycle engine.
Three wheels means that it can be licensed as a motorcycle. I would love one.
"Phony baloney plastic banana good time rock n roll"
Hilarious video. What a piece of junk.
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