Design Challenge

MIKE TURNER

The worldwide social and political push towards more efficient and environmentally sustainable vehicle solutions looks set to become an increasingly decisive factor in our industry. Although some of the thinking that Antares embodies might currently be deemed avant-garde, perhaps within the next 10-15 years proposals such as this will be regarded as commonplace.

The Technology

NASA teams currently working in Pasadena, California, have developed ‘plastic muscles’ (electro active polymers, or EAPs) that respond quickly to small amounts of electricity by lengthening or bending.

Their design consists of a flexible polymer ribbon constructed from chains of carbon, fluorine and oxygen molecules. When an electric charge flows through the ribbon, charged particles in the polymer expand or contract, depending on the polarity. By developing these ribbon strands into bundles, the team has already made a gripping mechanism that can pick up rocks.

In addition to these linear actuator applications, EAPs could conceivably be used in a radial array – either as part of a tracked or wheeled design. A controlled flow of current through a series of EAP wheel treads would allow them to undulate, creating forward movement in the process – either coming into contact with the terrain directly, or else powering an outer ‘tyre ring’.
NASA firmly believes that EAP technology has huge potential for robot design that currently relies on power-hungry gears and comparatively inefficient hydraulics to grab and transport objects.

Given that EAPs are already being actively developed for industrial applications, it is not a massive leap of logic to envisage that EAPs will eventually replace hydraulic rams in specific applications.

The design

When I was asked to contribute design work for IVT – specifically wheeled loading shovel ideas for this article – I was absolutely delighted, as I’ve always had a real affinity for bigger wheeled loaders. I can’t quite put my finger on exactly why – something about the overall stance and character has an inherent ‘rightness’ and single-mindedness in its functionality that has always appealed to me. One of my first sandpit toys was a small die-cast JCB410, and I’ve still got it in a drawer somewhere…

With Antares, aficionados will instantly spot the Porsche 917 engine fan design. Growing up as the son of a certified petrolhead subjected me to a daily diet of the very best in motorsport, but there was always something about the iconic 917 (especially in Gulf colours) that held my fascination. It was the first car I tried to draw – probably aged about four or five and working from grainy photographs – always from a high rear three-quarter view so I could include the fan.

Porsche fans on Antares? Well, there’s logic behind the passion, as the power source is envisaged as being electric-biogas reactor feeding a central fuel cell. Water and heat are by-products of this specific energy-generation process and have to be managed. A bank of fans seems the most obvious way of ducting the bay, and sends out a clear visual signal that this is no ordinary wheeled loading shovel.

General bodyform is about keeping things as simple and uncluttered as possible – it’s a concept rather than a fully detailed production machine, after all. Ditching conventional hydraulics for EAPs means the character of the loader end can be much cleaner, and I want to really emphasise this with as few fussy details as possible. I’ve got various ideas for composite structures that I want to showcase, so going away from traditional plate arms seems like the right thing to do.

Obviously there’s a trade-off in terms of loader arm thickness to maintain torsional rigidity as a composite structure, but I figure the EAP approach theoretically allows for the removal of a big chunky Z-bar linkage, so overall sightline view of the bucket is improved from an operator perspective.

The cab is deliberately kept as glassy and like a goldfish bowl as possible. Visibility legislation is getting ever tighter, and air-con is now the absolute norm for machines like this working in dusty hostile environments, so I feel that a large glass area is justified. Solar gain could be managed through the use of photovoltaic glass or traditional sunshield blinds if necessary. Beneath the surface, there’s a very sturdy ROPS/FOPS structure, but the overall feel is light and airy – a counterpoint to the incredibly heavyweight looks of the rest of Antares, and hopefully an appealing environment for the operator.

Developing the 3D concept

I’m a freelance industrial designer by trade, so CAD modelling and digital visualization is part and parcel of what I’ve always done. Developing data suitable for communicating concepts is one aspect of my role in industry, but I am also regularly asked to develop and author the production CAD surfaces used to cut the tooling of interior and exterior components and assemblies. For me, this is the most exciting aspect of the job, as it’s where concept becomes reality.

I ran the Antares project as a concept definition exercise in exactly the same way that I would in industry. Research led me to formulate a basic 3D CAD vehicle package layout, over which I sketched loosely to capture the character of what I wanted to achieve.

At this stage, I began developing 3D surface data using ALIAS StudioTools software, so that I could review and refine the overall form and proportions accurately. In some instances – where a specific detail or feature required further development, for example – I’d then take CAD screen-grabs of the evolving geometry as underlays, to ensure that all subsequent sketchwork was on package, to the right proportions and mindful of geometry constraints.

This digital-based design development workflow has enabled me to develop the Antares concept quickly and effectively as a 3D data set.

Although the design is conceptual, the CAD data itself is robust enough to CNC mill a scale model or styling assessment prototype, and would typically go on to be the basis of bodywork manufacturing data, if this were a live industry brief.

The images

    

Click here to view animation

Although the concept development ideas, sketches and final CAD surfaces of the Antares design are solely my efforts, I called in one of the very best CAD visualisation companies in industry to help me develop a suite of photorealistic images to convey the design to the highest standards.

I’ve recently been lucky enough to make contact with Protograph (www.protograph.co.uk), a UK-based specialist digital imaging company with extensive experience of developing uncannily realistic images from production CAD data for world-class clients such as Mercedes-Benz and Bombardier Transportation (among others). Given their expertise, I felt they had the right skills and background to really bring my Antares CAD data to life.

Protograph’s in-house expertise and supporting hardware enable the company to very quickly render massively complex production data sets as stills – or even animation if required. I have to say, I’ve been absolutely blown away by their image output quality and attention to detail, especially given such short development timescales.

Images from Mike Turner

* Click on a thumbnail below to view a larger image.

Biography

Mike Turner has been a professional industrial designer since graduating from Coventry University in 1996.

From the beginning of his career, he has been actively involved in and inspired by off-highway vehicle design projects, working with construction and groundcare companies on active projects even as an undergraduate.

He was senior industrial designer at JCB for more than five years, working as part of its in-house team responsible for the design development of all cosmetically sensitive exterior and interior components.

He left in 2007 to set up his own business, Mike Turner Design Limited, working as a 3D CAD-based industrial design freelancer.

Contact details:

Email: mike@miketurnerdesign.com
Web: www.miketurnerdesign.com
Tel: 07918 053474