APRIL 2019 RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT
29
making carbon fi bre
the norm for a large
number of new vehicle builds.
“ToPCat takes the concept of
carbon fi bre reinforced polymer
(CFRP) thermosets a step
further to off er a more modular
and effi cient alternative. Our
carbon composite chassis vehicle
platform can be developed at
a fraction of the cost of more
traditional methods, its also
fully recyclable and can shorten
engineering cycle times by 83%.”
Innovating other sectors
Horizontal innovation is not
only proving advantageous for
engineering businesses hoping
to achieve signifi cant material
advances, but it’s also benefi cial
across other sectors too. For
example, when KWSP, through
its joint venture company SASL,
was faced with the challenge of
designing and developing the
fi rst wind tunnel specifi cally
for cycling, it once again turned
to the automotive market for
inspiration to reduce costs and
speed up development times.
KWSP took the aerodynamic
performance and data
acquisition properties of
automotive wind tunnels and
re-interpreted them into a new
design, specifi cally for bikes.
The aerodynamic force
measurements of KWSP’s wind
tunnel cover drag, force, pitch
and roll, with data acquisition
delivering
transient
output of forces and
moments, similat to any
vehicle wind tunnel.
The project saw KWSP
bring together skills from three
diff erent sectors to deliver
a complete cycling solution,
with motorsport (through its
experience of aerodynamic
performance, testing and
traditional wind tunnel design),
sports technology (through
experience working with athletes
and analysis of what drives
improved performance), and
digital manufacturing (where
it has developed expertise in
complex controls, automation
and actuation from large scale
manufacturing systems, used to
physically control the ergo and
deal with complex data capture).
This approach enabled SASL
to provide the cycling industry
with a new, aff ordable approach
to wind tunnel testing. Now
installed at the Boardman
Bikes Performance Centre in
Evesham, Worcestershire, SASL’s
cycling-specifi c wind tunnel
allows customers to complete
more aerodynamic development
and validation testing with
the advantage of guaranteed,
repeatable conditions –
something usually reserved
for professional athletes.
Salter explains: “Often,
motorsport can show us new
ways of rationalising traditional
design and manufacturing
techniques for a leaner and
more productive operation.
Automotive wind tunnels are
all designed with a rolling road,
which we would have to
have attached to a platform for
cycling use. The platform would aff ect
the airfl ow around the cyclist, which would
be worsened considering cyclists travel at much
slower speeds than vehicles. We’d eff ectively be
giving cyclists little testing time in a tunnel that
wouldn’t work within its optimum parameters.”
Harnessing technology
There’s a lot more that modern manufacturing
businesses can learn from motorsport. Modular
construction and new techniques in motorsport
manufacturing, such as mobile workstations
that shift around the car as it is being built,
are already being embraced in other markets.
The convergence of connected technologies
and robotics found in today’s manufacturing
environment was also fi rst tested and proven in
the world of motorsport.
Salter concludes: “The motorsport industry
is at the centre of innovation and rapid decisionmaking.
When you work in that environment, you
have to act fast – and get things right! No race is
ever held up by a failure to deliver.
“As a result, the pace of innovation is rapid;
often, you have no choice but to try something
new and embrace alternative ways of doing things,
particularly when you have a car in the pitlane,
where every split-second counts.
“Across manufacturing, we have become
risk-averse. It’s far easier to carry on doing
what we’ve always done when the risk of failure
associated with change is so high, This is why
horizontal innovation is the ideal ethos to catapult
manufacturing processes and boost innovation.
“By understanding what works in other
industries and applying proven techniques to solve
new challenges in other sectors, it is possible to
reinvent the way that products are designed and
the boundaries of what
is possible and increase
output across the board.
“The best thing is,
horizontal innovation
doesn’t require a degree
or a magic wand; it
just needs a little
creativity, imagination
and confi dence. From
there, the benefi ts are
endless...”
stock.adobe.com/ Kirsty Pargeter
www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk
(Right) Horizontal
application in
action: cycling is
benefi ting from
KWSP’s motorsport
pedigree
produced forever. We can signifi cantly reduce
time-to-market, challenge
/stock.adobe.com
/www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk