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Father and son 3D print Lamborghini in their garage

Published on July 12, 2019 by Filippos Voulpiotis

When a few days ago the giant automaker, BMW, presented to the world its new model of its 3D printable at home concept car, a father and a son had already started working on their very own project, making a full sized 3D printed Lamborghini Aventador. The duo decided to create the majority of the supercar’s parts with small office 3D printers they own, and it must be said, the results are impressive! The father, Sterling Backus, a physicist, decided to turn the ambitious idea of 3D printing a life-size car in his garage into reality to show his son what technology is capable of. This example, seems to be one of many that evolve the term of large format 3D printing.

When it comes to the relationship between cars and 3D printing, it’s important to highlight that most vehicles have a few if any 3D printed parts. As of today (July 12^th 2019) the available technologies are not enough to produce a whole car model. However, that does not prevent us from saluting the initiatives taken in the industry that enable the development of car production. Thanks to additive manufacturing, many components can be optimized and therefore weigh less, thus increasing the vehicle’s capabilities whilst reducing the overall cost as fewer materials are needed. In the case of Sterling Backus, such technological developments, have allowed him to own the supercar he wished to have without spending hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The physicist already had a rich history with 3D printing, having used several FDM printers before. For this project, the CR-10S, CR-105S and QIDI Xpro machines were used. Sterling also explains that in total, 220 spools of thermoplastic filaments were used to make the entire body. PLA was used for the body panels due to its good dimensional stability, ASA and ABS were used for rear light housings and headlights, whilst carbon fiber filled nylon was used for interior parts requiring high strength. The printing process was by no means executed perfectly from start to finish, as about 50 spools were used for several tests and failures.

In addition to 3D printing, the father and son have used other traditional manufacturing processes such as CNC machining, waterjet cutting, vacuum infusion and carbon fiber encapsulation. The physicist said: “We decided to use advanced technologies to build the car. However, we wanted to use low cost options. This led us to researching different techniques of automobile construction. After choosing to use 3D printing for most of the car body, we needed solidity. Very few choices of heat stress resistant materials were compatible with our 3D printers; so we turned to encapsulation of 3D printed parts with carbon fiber.”

Sterling wants to show his large format project to everyone, including local schools as part of their STEM project. He hopes to interest children in science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics, and what’s better at attracting children’s attention than a life-size partially 3D printed Lamborghini? The physicist recalls how ambitious the idea was 1 year and months ago, when he started working on it with his son. They spent at least an hour per day, whilst over $20,000 were invested in total for the project, a relatively low price considering the cheapest version of the official Aventador retails at over $300,000! The physicist concluded by saying that he is not planning on selling the car, not to compete with the car manufacturer. Sterling describes his entire project on his Facebook page HERE.

What do you think of this 3D printed Lamborghini project? Let us know in a comment below or on our Facebook and Twitter pages! Don’t forget to sign up for our free weekly Newsletter, with all the latest news in 3D printing delivered straight to your inbox!

Printing a car on a 3D printer in 44 hours

Home / 3D devices / Printing a car on a 3D printer in 44 hours

Strati 3D printed car

3D printer technology is evolving and improving. Having mastered the possibilities of manufacturing small elements, the developers move on to the manufacture of larger and more substantial products. One of these attempts is the production of a car on a 3D printer in a short time. nine0003

Local Motors team

Arizona-based Local Motors showcased its 3D printing capabilities by producing the world's first fully 3D printed car. Out of several hundred projects received in the course of the competition held by the company, one was selected, called Strati.

And this car was manufactured and assembled in just 44 hours right at the company's booth as part of the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS), held in Chicago. nine0003

Strati at the company's booth at the technology show

As mentioned earlier, the production time of the Strati was only 44 hours. Such a high speed of production was made possible due to the fact that the design of the car consists of 40 main parts and assemblies against the thousands of parts that ordinary cars are assembled from.

All parts of the Strati's body, seats, interior and even the windshield were printed by Cincinnati Incorporated's BAAM (Big Area Additive Manufacturing) 3D printer using Direct Digital Manufacturing (DDM) technology. nine0003

3D printer prints structural element

Various types of plastic were used as the material for the above-mentioned parts, and parts that require high mechanical strength were printed from carbon fiber reinforced plastic.

“The process we've developed is a completely new process that could revolutionize the way the automotive industry works today,” says John B. Rogers Jr. (John B. Rogers, Jr.), President of Local Motors, - "In addition, we are going to demonstrate that the process of creating a car can be done in several different ways, and the result of this will be almost the same." nine0003

Creation of the Strati at booth

It is worth noting that 3D printing technologies are now in a state of development, and therefore not all the elements necessary to create a car can be made using 3D printing. So, when creating the described Strati car, the developers of Local Motors used elements of the electric transmission and suspension from the European version of the Renault Twizy car. Batteries, electrical wiring and some other items for the Strati were pre-ordered from third parties. nine0003

3D Printed Strati Car Body

The novelty presented at the exhibition received positive feedback from visitors who had the opportunity to observe the process of creating this car, and therefore Local Motors planned to start small-scale production of Strati cars, making them available to everyone. Unfortunately, the final price that the buyer of the Strati will have to pay is not yet known, but according to the DailyMail, it will be in the range of 11 to 18 thousand pounds, which is from 18 to 30 thousand dollars. nine0003

3D-printed supercar unveiled

Blade 3D-printed supercar and creator Kevin Zinger / Divergent Microfactories

Divergent Microfactories (DM) unveiled a prototype of a powerful and lightweight vehicle, designed for low-volume, low-cost production throughout the world. The California startup idea echoes another industry novelty - a 3D printed car from the American company Local Motors, which highlights the potential of new manufacturing technologies for small flexible industries that challenge the economy of large car factories, writes the Financial Times. nine0003

DM's Blade is built on a chassis that is 90% lighter than traditional car designs. A double car with a tandem seating and guillotine doors weighs 635 kg, with a 700 hp engine. with. it can accelerate to 60 mph (96.6 km/h) in about 2 seconds. The company is going to build a plant over the next 1.5 years to develop a technique for manufacturing a car, and then sell the technology to make it to entrepreneurs who can raise $10 million to create their own factories to make a car, says Kevin Zinger, founder and CEO of the company. nine0003

DM, as Local Motors, is betting on 3D printing to avoid the high cost of stamping equipment for car chassis manufacturing. Also known as layering, the technique involves layering a material, in this case aluminum, to form a part.

The

Blade is based on a three-dimensional framework of hollow aluminum nodes - 3D printed structural connectors that are held together by carbon rods. The design forms a light and elastic body, which is quickly assembled in any room without the use of special tools. Companies that have licensed the technology can source most other components from local suppliers and build their vehicles using the modular design, Zinger says. nine0003

These parts are assembled into the body shell of the Blade /Divergent Microfactories

At the beginning of the year, Local Motors unveiled a prototype of its own car, completely 3D printed, including the chassis and outer shell. The car is also designed to be assembled at local facilities using components from various suppliers. The cost of creating a local production could be $10-20 million, says Justin Fishkin, director of strategy at Local Motors. The Knoxville, Tennessee plant being built to produce the "printed car" is designed to break even at 2,400 cars a year, he says. nine0003

Mini-factories using 3D printing among other production methods have begun to attract the attention of entrepreneurs due to the rapid reduction in equipment costs. Their big advantage is their low capital intensity, says PA Consulting manufacturing expert Tim Lawrence. "Setting up production lines, assembly lines, special tooling requires huge amounts of investment. 3D printing is an add-on technology, you don't have to squeeze on tools, so you don't need much capital equipment," he says. nine0003

Layering is widely used in the aerospace industry and on some Formula 1 car manufacturers. But the technology is too slow to catch on in the mainstream auto industry, where its use has so far been limited to pre-production stages. Automakers are using 3D printing to sample plastic components like interior door handles, speaker grilles and air vents, as well as various metal parts. Some cars with low production volumes are equipped with components obtained by 3D printing, for example, the Swedish hypercar Koenigsegg uses this method to make engine turbines. nine0003

But the use of technology in mass production is seen as a distant prospect. For factories producing several hundred thousand cars a year, conventional methods of car production are faster and more cost-effective.

Zinger, co-founder of electric vehicle maker Coda Automotive, which went bankrupt in 2013, says the experience spurred him to look for new and more flexible forms of production after the high cost of tooling for Coda machines meant they couldn't respond to rapidly changing circumstances.