Product category:
Motor sports manufacturing: machining, software, CAM
News Release from: Open Mind Technologies UK | Subject: hyperMILL CAM software
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 01 May 2001
CAM software puts racing car into gear
Nova Racing Transmissions uses hyperMILL computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software from Open Mind to assist in programming the machining Caterham Seven car six-speed sequential gearbox.
Motorsport enthusiasts will be aware that the new Caterham Seven car launched at the Birmingham Motor Show last year (2000) was powered by a Honda Blackbird 1100cc motorcycle engine with an integral, six-speed sequential gearbox modified to allow the car to reverse The company chosen by Caterham to design and make the gearboxes, Nova Racing Transmissions, uses hyperMILL computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) software from Open Mind to assist in programming the machines which produce the gearbox parts
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 31 Jul 2000 at 8.00am (UK)
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Former motorcycle champion, Steve Parrish, recently demonstrated that the gearbox works very well in reverse when he reached a record 85 mph going backwards in a Caterham Seven at Bruntingthorpe Proving Ground, Leicestershire.
More and more, racing cars are being powered by motorcycle engines owing to their responsiveness and high power-to-weight ratio, a trend which has increased the contract gearbox side of Nova's business to around 50 per cent of turnover within the past 12 months.
Graham Dyson established Nova in Crowland, near Peterborough, in 1989 having spent most of his career in racing engine and transmission design.
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He was joined in 1999 by engineering director Martin Ford-Dunn, who was instrumental in progressing the company from conventional draughting to computer-aided design (CAD).
Autodesk Mechanical Desktop was selected as Martin was familiar with this 3D design system from his days with the design consultancy, Ricardo.
However, the procedure then was to create 2D drawings from the model and program the cutter paths manually.
This was a laborious process entailing the calculation and transfer of very large numbers of points and it was easy to make mistakes.
Martin knew that the CAM end of the process needed to be automated as well and spent a year on the internet researching the options.
It became clear that if the CAM software was able to work within the CAD environment rather than separately from it as a stand-alone application, then considerable benefits would accrue.
Nova was producing complex components requiring multiple drawings and it was difficult to keep track of their release numbers.
By having the CAM package resident within the CAD system, it is possible to keep a single drawing going throughout the entire process from concept through all the design iterations to programming and manufacture.
There were only two CAM products capable of doing this at the time.
HyperMILL was selected partly owing to its extensive user base, indicating that sufficient debugging of the software had already taken place.
Price and responsiveness to the enquiry were also important, but paramount was ease of use.
ToolBox UK, a premier Autodesk System Center and Open Mind Partner, demonstrated the integration of Autodesk Mechanical Desktop with hyperMILL and its ease of use.
They also provided a high level of support and training from their High Wycombe offices.
Martin bought the 2D version of hyperMILL to keep the cost down, as the 3D package could not be justified at the time (although Nova intends to upgrade in the near future).
It is noteworthy that this advanced software is offered as a 2D entry-level system.
Currently, sections are taken through the solid CAD model and hyperMILL works on the 2D data to build up the cutter paths required to machine the prismatic part.
Programs are downloaded by DNC link to the Heidenhain control on a Bridgeport CNC mill and the Fanuc CNC system driving a Leadwell vertical machining centre.
There is a further CNC mill in the design office for rapid prototyping.
Nova makes motorcycle gearboxes and other components such as dry sump kits, dry clutch conversions, rev-up boxes and transaxles in relatively small volumes, so rapid design and machine tool programming is essential to maintain profitability.
"What used to take two days to program is now done in an hour," says Martin.
"We recently designed a new gearbox for a mid-engine kit car and had manufactured it within a month of releasing the first drawing for manufacture." "Moreover a lot of what we program now could not have been attempted at all manually.
CAD/CAM has greatly increased both our design flexibility and our manufacturing capability.".
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