The Californian Electric Vehicle company Faraday Future (FF) and AICON 3D Systems have created the first automotive design studio with fully integrated optical metrology – utilizing AICON’s 3D Arena solution. The calibrated 3D workspace enables precise tracking, measurement, and 3D scanning anywhere in the working volume. Vehicle designers at FF will enjoy total freedom of movement and an unobstructed view of their products.
In today’s automotive industry, vehicle development cycles from design to production have shortened considerably. While digital design tools have helped to decrease the development cycle, physical modelling remains important for design and control. The new design studio at FF includes the 3D Arena for tracking, MI.Probe for point measurement, as well as AICON’s white light scanners stereoSCAN and smartSCAN for digitizing exterior and interior models.
The advantages of the new technology are multi-facetted. 3D Arena puts the designers at front and centre. After cutting a clay model, milling machines can be moved away. When they are needed again to make adjustments, 3D Arena helps to relocate the milling machine and provides its current coordinates to the machining software. The designer can continue working right away. Speed is another big advantage. The ability to 3D scan a vehicle without using optical targets drastically reduces the time required to measure and to create digital replicas of physical models. The wireless handheld MI.Probe quickly identifies specific points and geometries, and determines the 3D coordinates, providing instant validation during design reviews. No more setup of cumbersome probing arm devices is necessary.
No matter what device is in use, the operator will always receive precise and reliable results from 3D Arena whether locating a device, tracking a scanner position, or probing a point.
3D Arena will help FF to close the gap between digital and physical modelling by creating a flexible work area that guarantees automotive designers open views of their designs while improving modelling and digitizing efficiency.
