How to design
lightweight mechanical parts
For a Mechatronics Engineer, there is nothing more exciting than developing a new piece of hardware for our Aerial Scout drone. We’ve asked David Frieling, Mechatronics Engineer at Avular, what it’s like to design lightweight parts for aerial robotic platforms.
The key is to find the optimal balance between material stiffness, extreme fiber distance, manufacturing method, weight and volume in an integrated design. Simplified, that takes three steps.
1
Concept modeling.
Material choice.
One of the materials we use for our aerial applications is a nylon-type material, namely 3D printed Polyamide 12 (PA12). This material does not only provide an excellent durability but is also very impact resistant, therefore making it perfectly suitable for an aerial robotic platform. 3D printing as a manufacturing method provides extreme design freedom, which allows us to focus on designing the part without the constraints of conventional production methods. Reasons for us to choose for this material are:
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Impact resistance
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Surface finish
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Short lead times
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Low wall thickness
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High level of customization

2
Drawing the first prototype.
3
Final design.
After the complete design is finished, we export the different parts separately and they’re ready to get printed. Finally, we assemble all the parts in-house.