CASE STUDY - ALDORA UAV

CUSTOMER - ALDORA

ALDORA is an UAV (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) developed by a team from Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya (UPC) in Barcelona.

INDUSTRY SEGMENT: MILITARY, DEFENSE AND AEROSPACE | Drones

APPLICATION VERTICAL: MILITARY, DEFENSE AND AEROSPACE | Drones

CHALLENGE OF THE CUSTOMER

The main challenge for the Aldora project was to make a large-scale drone that was light, rigid and resistant. In addition, we needed to convert the maximum internal space of the drone into a useful volume without jeopardizing the integrity of the drone.

PREVIOUS IDEA

The original idea of manufacturing the prototype was through ribs. Wood and carbon fiber would be used since these materials are light and resistant. For the outer shape we thought about the expanded polystyrene milling, but due to the thickness of the profiles we use, which is too small to make the flight more efficient, it was impossible to mill the material and the only way to achieve the shape we were looking for was making molds which were more expensive. In addition, the number of hours we had to invest were not viable considering that for each iteration we had to create a new mold and because of this we decided to discard this idea.

SOLUTION OF THE CUSTOMER

After a long period of construction feasibility problems, HP offered us the opportunity to print the drone, which meant a faster way to iterate the initial design. Since working together with HP and the studio Nacar Design we managed to design a structure that could be printed in its entirety using the 3D printing technology offered by HP.

WHY 3D PRINT

DESIGN FREEDOM & CUSTOMIZATION

Due to our modular design, 3D printing offers us the option to individually dimension and shape each joint taking into account the needs of each one.

WHY MJF

DIMENSIONAL STRENGHT AND ACCURACY

Structural rigidity, precision for the aerodynamic surface and maneuverability in internal areas of difficult access are three maxims that HP 3D Multi Jet Fusion offers to the Aldora team and that make possible the creation of a remarkable aerial vehicle. This is the reason why HP prints 90% of the Panthea model, the prototype of 4 meters.


VIEW THE PRINTERS USED

HP Jet Fusion 3D  300/500 Printers
HP Jet Fusion 3D 4210/4200
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