Hyundai Design North America’s design and technical centre is a $30 million state-of-the-art facility where automobile designers, engineers, model makers and other experts create new vehicles. The team offers alternative designs for its parent company based in South Korea.
As is the case with the vast majority of automotive manufacturers, clay sculpting still plays a vital role in the design process for Hyundai, in order to fine-tune concepts based on scale models and full-size clay vehicles, to assess design quality and get feedback from reflection-based surfacing.
However, with increased competition for consumers as well as manufacturers’ accelerated time-to-market development and production schedules, design teams are under increasing pressure to create concepts faster than ever before. Digital modeling using 3D measurement technologies, such as 3D scanners, has become a vital solution in order to speed up design workflows.
For a long time, Hyundai Design North America, used 3D scanners as a complement to its clay modeling and design processes, but the team had realised it was time for a major equipment upgrade.
The team began checking out available 3D scanners that fit their requirements. They required a 3D scanner that was compact, easily portable, fast, and accurate. It also had to be compatible with their CAD software.
Hyundai were able to seamlessly implement the new handheld laser scanner into its existing design workflows for real-time development.
Once the 2D sketch is settled, digital modelers get to work on the 3D clay models and mill it out for verifications and fine-tuning. Changes are performed by hand on the clay model, which is then 3D scanned to acquire the digital representation of the modifications.
The team have found the scanning process to be quick and easy, and they are able to scan selected areas of the model without disturbing anyone working around it. Information can be relayed to the digital team within minutes of finishing the scan, allowing the affected areas to be fixed quickly and the model to be milled again before final reviews.
The 3D measurements also enable the modelers and design team to know exactly where the clay models are landed in comparison with design criteria and styling boundaries. This allows them to quickly identify and correct discrepancies. Designers can come to decisions faster thanks to the efficiency and accuracy the 3D scanner provides.
Hyundai Design North America will continue to improve their clay modeling workflows using 3D scanning in order to allow more time for the design process and refinement.
See full article at Metrology News.