Jack Davies, A British intern student at 3D Hubs in the Netherlands, has always wanted to buy a skateboard electrique. It is because the company is too far away from his house. And it is not convenient to take the bus. However, he is just an intern, the expensive price of an electrical skateboard discouraged him. So, he designed and used the 3D printing to create his own electrical skateboard with his internship experience.
Production Costs Control
Jack Davies used the 3D design software to plan and optimize the various parts of the electrical skateboard. And also control the budget by deleting a lot of unnecessary production costs.
Design Gearbox System
The first step is to design the gearbox system. Including the speed up and mitigation of the motor, the gearbox device and the slide bracket. Since the size of the motor base will decide the size and position of the housing, this must be confirmed first.
He purchased skateboard panels, brackets, skateboard wheels, motors and other parts. And he used 3D printing to print out all parts of the design. Including the base for fixing the motor and the casing of the battery and speed controller. He also tried to amend the bracket of the skateboard and designed some 3D printed parts for reinforcement.
Adjustment of Limited Budget and Difficulties
Since aluminium parts are usually expensive and difficult to manufacture with existing technology (such as CNC), Jack Davies used nylon parts HP 3d HR PA12 as an alternative. For the required custom housing parts, he used an HP Jet Fusion 3D 4200 printer and conceived a design to protect the internal components and battery box for printing, creating complex geometric shapes without compromising strength, while also It is essential to enhance the durability of the skateboard.
Outlook of the Electrical Skateboard
The skateboard uses a bamboo panel with a slight depression in the middle of the panel, which makes riding more stable and comfortable. The recess of the bamboo panel can effectively prevent the circuit board from contacting the ground and causing damage. In addition, he also designed a split housing to accommodate batteries and electronic devices, and added some ribs along the bottom of the skateboard to maintain functionality without losing its beauty.
On the other hand, the pulley of the electric skateboard uses ABS 3D printing (the same material as minifigures lego), which provides high structural integrity for desktop printing plastics. Even if it is worn out, the cost of replacement is quite cheap.
Save 75% Cost than the Market Price to Make the Own Skateboard
Through 3D printing, Jack Davies made a skateboard with performance comparable. And to those on the market in a week for less than a quarter of the price. The skateboard weighs about 6.8 kg, has a top speed of 56 kilometres per hour. And it can travel 16 kilometres in 4 hours on a single charge. Solved his troubles in traffic congestion.
I believe that in the days to come, 3D printing can help more designers save costs. And it helps to create products with better performance to facilitate everyone’s daily life.
