Vehicles – Lannix Design

AI Vehicle Camera Mount – Take 2: Part II

Nick — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 21:30:33 +0000

The AI camera frame has been mounted to the Arrayen Suzuki Jimny and we’re all very happy with the result. The guys have sent over some pics for me to share with you and have reported that it is rigid and strong which has inspired confidence in its ability to keep the very expensive 360° camera safe.

There was talk of getting the aluminium frame powder-coated but as we all know, time is money and the camera was needed for a job before that could happen. It would look neat coated black to match the camera and roof-racks but for now the bare aly frame will be durable enough.

The Jimny looks tip top wrapped in the Arrayen company logo and with the camera mounting frame fitted.

The finished camera frame fitted to the Arrayen Jimny.

Thanks to Brett at Koda metal for the top notch fabrication work. Check out his Instagram below. Check out the Arrayen website too. They do some really interesting work with AI using data collected by drone and the vehicle mounted camera you see here.

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AI Vehicle Camera Mount – Take 2

Nick — Tue, 18 Jul 2023 21:30:39 +0000

My friends at Arrayen who do infrastructure monitoring using AI have asked me design a custom frame for their 360° camera. You may have seen the first post where we came up with a simple fix for the cheap frame that they already had for the camera. Well it turns out that that frame is a little flimsy for what they need causing the camera footage to be shaky and unusable.

So I was put to task again to come up with a solution that would be rigid enough for them to use. They now had custody of a new vehicle that would be used for data acquisition, a Suzuki Jimny. The Jimny has a roof rack fitted that the new frame would be mounted to, so I took some measurements and got stuck into it.

Test fitting the new frame on the Arrayen Jimny.

The original camera frame that was too flimsy.

The design is simple enough, bolting onto the rack between rungs. The top plate is designed to the two camera mounts that Arrayen have for the camera, a rigid one for smooth terrain and one that has built-in damping to isolate the camera from the cars vibrations. I’d say the dampened one will be used most of the time, with the rigid one as a backup.

I enlisted the help of a gun fabricator, Brett, who I used to work with in a previous job. He was keen to take on the job and came through with a great looking frame for us. Check out his Instagram below. He does some amazing work.

We’re all very happy with the result and I’m looking forward to getting some more pics later with the frame installed permanently and the Suzuki vinyl wrapped with the Arrayen livery. Check out their website if you’re in need of asset management using the latest AI tech.

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AI Vehicle Camera Mount

Nick — Tue, 30 May 2023 21:30:50 +0000

Some friends of mine have started a company that uses AI and machine learning to monitor infrastructure for their clients. Their company, Arrayen, have scored a contract that requires the monitoring of road infrastructure and so a new 360° camera was acquired for the job, similar to the one Google use for their Street View app.

The camera mount utilizes suction cups but the cups were too big to fit within the structural ribs on the vehicle’s roof. My friend Chung asked if I could help out coming up with a solution to get the camera mounted to the car.

Laying the final coat of paint on the mounting bracket.

So I brushed up on my stress analysis and multi-link machine design theories, and had my CAD software fired up for Chung’s arrival… After looking at the mount they already have and the car it was mounting to however, it became clear that the problem could be solved with a piece of steel strip with four holes in it.

The camera mount attached to the camera car, sans camera.

After a quick sizing up of the bolts we had to use, I found a scrap piece of steel and took to it with my drill and grinder. All we needed to buy was some countersunk screws that fit into the existing camera mount legs. Honestly the part that took the longest was waiting for the paint to dry!

It did feel good to come up with a solution for them so quickly and have it be so elegantly simple.

If you’re in the market for asset monitoring using AI and machine learning to detect anomalies in your expensive capital, check out Arrayen.

arrayen.ai

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Toyota MR2 Turbo Manifold Adapter

Nick — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 21:30:36 +0000

This was an interesting job I did a few years ago that I thought I’d share. I met a guy who had just acquired an AW11 Toyota MR2 that already had a turbo conversion. He planned to use it for rally racing and wanted to upgrade the existing turbo to a larger unit. The problem he faced was that the existing turbo had a T3 inlet flange and the larger turbo he already had used a T4 inlet profile.

No problem I thought so I got to work measuring both parts and creating an adapter plate to fit them together. It was a relatively straight-forward job and to evaluate the fit I offered to 3D print a test part before commiting to a more expensive stainless steel item. I’m happy to report that it fit perfectly first time.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to get any pictures of the finished stainless part or the car itself… I have heard on the grapevine that he has the car up and racing now. I’m sure he’s a talented driver but I’m not sure it’s what I’d want to be driving as a rally car with the MR2’s reputation for snap oversteer… Good luck though mate!

A custom exhaust manifold for the 4AGE engine with a T3 turbo flange.
(Not the customer’s car!)

Picture courtesy of Manon Racing Products. https://www.mrpltd.co.nz/product/4age-turbo-aw11-manifold/

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Audi R8 Air Filter Adapters – Part 1

Nick — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 21:30:38 +0000

If you’ve read our previous blog entry on making parts for this car, you’ll know how I feel about the price of its replacement parts. Our customer isn’t a fan either so he’s commissioned us to create more parts for him.

The air filters are past their use by date so the idea was to replace them with the high flowing K&N units. A K&N filter for just about any car will set you back between $100 – $150 which is reasonable but to buy a setup for the Audi costs over $700.

With a small amount of research we found that the filters have a bracket built into them that enables them to fit into the Audi air box.

The 3D printed part on the right compared to the Audi part on the left

Considerations

With a small amount of research we found that the filters have a bracket built into them that enables them to fit into the Audi air box.

Design

Using the tool mentioned above, the outlet part of the filter assembly was recreated so that it would take the place of the OEM part. The inside half of the bracket was then adapted to fit the dimensions of the K&N air filter. The bracket was designed to be 3D printed in two parts and epoxied together with high temperature adhesive. Two parts were needed to account for the fact that parts need a flat surface when they are to be 3D printed.

The Audi part has a support bracket on the non-intake end that has a tab that needed to be replicated. A cradle type arrangement was designed as a two piece part to be epoxied together with high-temp adhesive. Again, two pieces were required so that a flat plane could be used for 3D printing, only with this part the print orientation was leveraged to increase part strength as well.

Testing

Fortunately the quoted dimensions for the K&N filter matched the part when we finally received it so no modification to the design was needed. Unfortunately at this stage, we’ve only received one filter from the supplier so we have to wait for the second to arrive before we can fit the parts to the car.

In the meantime, my man has created an Instagram for the car to document his shenanigans. You may have noticed the UK plates on the car in the picture to the right. This is because it turned out cheaper to import one of these from England than it was to buy second hand in Australia.

I was planning to make this a single blog post but waiting for parts has us behind schedule with this project. Check back here on our projects page to see more in future posts or follow our social media accounts for regular updates from Lannix Design. If you’re on Instagram click the image below to see what’s happening with the car.

To be continued…

The Audi needs a little TLC before being registered in Australia

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Dashcam Bracket For Rear Window

Nick — Tue, 30 Aug 2022 21:30:10 +0000

After upgrading the front dashcam to a 4K unit, the old dashcam sat collecting dust. Since the bracket it had was designed for a sloping windscreen it wasn’t able to be used in the vertical rear window of the Lannix Design Holden Colorado. This became a great opportunity to come up with a custom bracket in CAD and test the heat resistance capabilities of our PETG 3D printing filament.

The standard PLA type filament always gives a great looking result but is notorious for deforming when exposed to the higher temperatures seen inside a car. PETG filament on the other hand is able to withstand these temperatures easily with the trade-off being that it can be more difficult to get a decent looking part. Fortunately our custom 3D printing enclosure allows us to get good results with PETG.

The design is relatively simple and incorporates the use of suction cups that enable it to stick to the vertical glass.

After more than 18 months inside the vehicle, the part has shown no signs of warping or deformation of any kind. Some say that ABS or ASA is necessary for high heat environments but for this type of application it is not necessary. The significantly higher level of difficulty of 3D printing ABS/ASA makes PETG a wise choice for vehicle interiors.

The dashcam bracket social media post

Check out the gallery for more pictures of the bracket and if you’d like to download the 3D model for yourself or have a closer look at it, click the image below to see it on Printables.com.

Gallery - Dashcam Bracket Assembly & Heat Test

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3D Scanning The Audi R8

Nick — Tue, 09 Aug 2022 21:30:27 +0000

Parts for the Audi R8 are not cheap. Seemingly innocuous parts like a plastic duct that sits inside an air diffuser can do quite some harm to the wallet if you pay the price that Audi are asking. I believe their motto for this car is ‘come up with a reasonable price then add a zero to the end…’

Fortunately 3D scanning and printing is here to save the day! The plan was to get the shape of the diffuser 3D scanned to obtain the subtle curvature of the part where the ducts attach. Using this information, the shape of the one of the ducts was formed in Fusion 360 CAD software. The second duct is a mirror of the first so it doesn’t need to be modelled separately.

Scanning the part of the diffuser where the duct will attach

At this stage, a draft revision of the part has been 3D printed and is ready for test fitment. Once that’s done, any fine tuning to the 3D model will be carried out.

The ducts are barely visible from the rear of the car (note this is not the customer’s car, just an example!)

Although the ducts are almost invisible from the rear of the car, they will be printed in a filament that is suitable for filling, sanding and painting at the customer’s request.

It’s a short and sweet update this week. I’ll post some pictures of the finished part when the customer has them installed.

Bye for now.

Gallery - Audi R8 3D Scanning

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Ford Ranger Rear Bumper Prototype

Nick — Wed, 13 Jul 2022 21:30:34 +0000

The first prototype part for our offshoot business collaboration, R-Spec, has been designed and 3D printed using the 3D scans we produced a few weeks ago. My business partner Michael has had this Ford Ranger part in mind for quite some time and has already produced a few parts for his Ranger in his garage from fibreglass. As a proof of concept I thought this bumper would be perfect for developing a 3D scanning/modelling/printing workflow for the business.

Ford Rangers are sold all over the world and are a good looking vehicle. Consequently there are many who have taken to modifying them for looks and performance including Michael.

The 3D printing process took around 35 hours total for all seven parts using the super-speed print setting I’ve developed. The individual pieces were then epoxy glued together as they came off the printers.

The fitment was very close to perfect. The length was right on the money leaving a perfect panel gap. The face of the bumper sat around 5mm proud of the rear quarters so we’ll need to take material away in the design. The number plate needs some extra room to fit properly which can be easily fixed by angling the recess slightly higher than it currently sits.

Successful test fit of the Ford Ranger custom rear bumper design prototype.

We’ve decided to add a few additions to the design after seeing it on the vehicle such as a vertical upright section that covers the spare wheel access hole with a removable cover piece. Openings for the number plate lights are also needed.

The next step is to make the changes mentioned to the 3D model and 3D print another prototype to confirm we have something ready for mass-production. Once we’re satisfied that we have a perfectly fitting and quality model we’ll search for a manufacturer, hopefully locally, to produce the finished product. In the meantime the admin part of this business needs working out. Web domains have been locked down as well as Facebook and Instagram profiles.

It’s encouraging to see that this workflow can be successful for a small business and we now have high hopes! We’ll keep you posted on the progress of the part.

Until next week…

Gallery - Ranger Rear Bumper Prototype Test

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More Experiments With A 3D Scanner

Nick — Tue, 31 May 2022 21:30:36 +0000

Those people who subscribe to our newsletter will have seen a sneak preview last month of what we’ve been up to with the 3D scanner. My old friend Michael and I have been interested in creating our own parts for our cars and so we’ve decided to have a go at building a business from it.

He’s been playing with fibreglass, making parts the old fashioned way which is time consuming, inaccurate and messy, so I suggested that I’d buy a relatively cheap 3D scanner and use it, along with the tools and skills I’ve acquired working as an engineer, to help create the parts. It is then possible to either produce 3D printed molds that maintain accuracy and create parts ourselves or outsource the manufacturing process.

Scanning a fibreglass car part.

One of many possible logos for the new business.

The plan is to get our cars scanned into the computer and use the resultant 3D models as a guide to create our own custom parts. So far we have scanned the Lannix Design BMW E92 and Michael’s Ford Ranger.

The BMW will eventually be used on the racetrack so the plan for it is to produce an air duct for the front guard that vents hot air out of the wheel well. Utilizing computational fluid dynamics (CFD) to assess the expected air flow, we can hopefully come up with something that works efficiently and as intended. The outlet duct will be used in conjunction with inlet ducting in the front bumper, both of which will be 3D printed and tested on the track before going into production.

The Ranger parts are more of a cosmetic upgrade which will set it apart from the thousands of other Rangers on the roads. Modifying them is quite a big scene in countries like Thailand and Malaysia.

The BMW and the Ranger have been chosen for their worldwide popularity. The BMW in particular is one of the few rear-drive cars left where the price of them hasn’t gone crazy like a lot of Australian and Japanese cars that have been traditionally modified among enthusiasts.

We are still in the early stages of creating products ready for market and time has become a far more valuable commodity around here with the arrival of our son Emmet in early May. I have been concentrating more on getting an online store up and running and keeping on top of the design projects for customers and in-house but this is always on my mind! Between changing nappies and trying to spend time with my partner, there never seems to be enough hours in the day. Also, buying a house looks to be in the near future! Damn…

Stay tuned for more about R-Spec in our socials!

Til next week…

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Experiments With A 3D Scanner

Nick — Tue, 03 May 2022 21:30:16 +0000

Lannix Design has recently purchased a 3D scanner which we hope will become a useful tool to complement our existing CAD and 3D printing services.

We’ve been working out how to best optimize lighting conditions when scanning to obtain accurate results. So far it seems that dark and featureless surfaces are not ideal! Using brightly coloured masking tape to highlight features seems to help. The marker stickers supplied with the scanner are also very useful.

Post-processing has also proven to be a challenge. The resulting output file from the scanner contains thousands of points of information (a point cloud) and is too much for parametric CAD software to handle without modification. Reducing the file size using Blender software has worked well and has kept all the important detail required for creating custom parts.

Stay tuned for future updates on using the 3D scanner to aid in creating automotive parts.

3D scanning underway in the boardroom

Vehicles – Lannix Design

AI Vehicle Camera Mount – Take 2: Part II

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AI Vehicle Camera Mount – Take 2

Gallery - AI Vehicle Camera Mount - Take 2

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AI Vehicle Camera Mount

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Toyota MR2 Turbo Manifold Adapter

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Audi R8 Air Filter Adapters – Part 1

Considerations

Design

Testing

Gallery - Audi R8 Air Filter Adapter

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Dashcam Bracket For Rear Window

Gallery - Dashcam Bracket Assembly & Heat Test

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3D Scanning The Audi R8

Gallery - Audi R8 3D Scanning

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Ford Ranger Rear Bumper Prototype

Gallery - Ranger Rear Bumper Prototype Test

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More Experiments With A 3D Scanner

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Experiments With A 3D Scanner

Gallery - 3D Scanning experiment

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