WASP is partnering with HONDA R&D Europe, a global branch of the well-recognized motor company, in a project it hopes will revolutionize the motorcycle industry’s sustainable design processes. The new concept is called Additive Manufacturing, and it will be at the forefront of a new 3D-printed motorcycle project that will combine 3D printing with hand-finished design.
WASP (which stands for World’s Advanced Saving Project) is an Italy-based company that specializes in designing and producing 3D printers. The company was inspired by the Potter wasp, an insect that uses materials from its surrounding environment to construct its nests. This nest concept is integrated into the design model, as its large-scale 3D printers aim to build houses with natural materials found on site. The Delta Clay line, for example, 3D-printed dense fluid materials and industrial clays in large-scale dimensions.
Related: Large scale 3D Printer capable of printing a motorcycle
According to WASP, the prototyping process implements 3D printing with hand-finished work since there are some areas of motorcycle design where the human hand is “irreplaceable.” “Until today, prototyping was carried out manually and then finished by highly qualified technicians who, like modern sculptors, would skillfully define proportions, lines and volumes,” said a representative for the company in a press release. “In this field it is said that: ‘only the touch and reflection of the lights on the piece can guide the development.’”
Today, motorcycle designers use industrial clay to bring their designs to life, but this sometimes a time-consuming process since the entire model must be completed by hand. The WASP collaboration with HONDA would change this by utilizing a 3D-printed design model that is finished by hand to safeguard the creative process. The resulting design process would introduce an innovative approach for the automotive modeling world that creates less waste and takes less time.
The Design Modeling Coordinator at Honda R&D Europe has already met with WASP engineers to integrate the Additive Manufacturing 3D printing technology into the creative process of the company’s industrial clay models. Over the coming months, the two companies hope to showcase their results.
Images courtesy of WASP
