Aerosport Products' R&D Team reduces costs thanks to HP: discover how they do it

Aerosport Products spun off from sister company Aerosport Modeling & Design in 2009 to develop products for experimental aircraft, the first of which was the RV-10 Carbon Fiber Instrument Panel. Aerosport Products’ goals are to continue the traditions of Aerosport Modeling & Design: to deliver innovative products and help experimental aircraft builders by providing high-quality, high-value products to assist them in completing their builds.

Some planes are equipped with small tabs on the control surfaces (e.g., rudder trim tabs, aileron tabs, elevator tabs) so the pilot can make minute adjustments to pitch, yaw, and roll to keep the airplane flying a true, clean line through the air. This improves speed by reducing drag from the larger, constant movements of the full rudder, aileron, and elevator. Many airplanes also have rudder and/or aileron trim systems. On some, the rudder trim tab is rigid but adjustable on the ground by bending: It is angled slightly to the left (when viewed from behind) to lessen the need for the pilot to push the rudder pedal constantly in order to overcome the left-turning tendencies of many propdriven aircraft. Some aircrafts have hinged rudder trim tabs that the pilot can adjust in flight. When a servo tab is employed, it is moved into the slipstream opposite of the control surface’s desired deflection. For example, in order to trim an elevator to hold the nose down, the elevator’s trim tab will actually rise up into the slipstream.

Aerosport Modeling redesigned the rudder trim system to reduce the need to manufacture different parts and to shorten the assembly time. They converted the entire system from a machined and standard assembly of 26 parts to a four-part assembly that is 3D printed on demand without the need to buy or machine long-run productions of each metallic part. This rudder trim system is a spring bias system that holds the entire rudder surface to the right or left and still allows for complete movement.

Material:  HP 3D HR PA 12

Post-processing: Bead blasting and then Dyed in black

Method X for printing end of arm effectors

All Axis Robotics is a Dallas, Texas-based machine shop and a leader in turnkey custom robot solutions for other machine shops and manufacturing facilities in need of automated machine tending.

Customers enlist the expertise of All Axis Robotics’ mechanical and manufacturing engineers to streamline their manufacturing operations with robotic arms and custom end-effectors including those for CNC machine tending, automated part sanding, and brake press machine tending, among others.

All Axis engineers designed and manufactured a custom dual-grit robot sander attachment in under two weeks using a MakerBot METHOD X 3D printer with strong and durable real ABS material. The robot sander automates the time-consuming manual aluminum sanding operation, helping a machine shop to run more efficiently by freeing up personnel for other tasks.

It features two sides with different grid sand pads as well as a connection for a vacuum to remove debris.

Key points

• Tooling for robotic arms requires tight tolerances close to (± 0.2 mm) (±0.007 in) and hole cylindricity for optimal fit and function.

• Large overhangs, carve-outs, and other complex part features are near-impossible to machine, requiring Stratasys® SR-30 soluble support material.

• All Axis was able to create their part using production-grade ABS.

All Axis process

The engineering team at All Axis used METHOD X to produce custom tooling with approximately 10 minutes of labor time and at an operational cost of $110—compared to 24 hours of labor time at an operational cost of $3,600 with an in-house CNC machine.

This ability to create custom solutions for customers—combined with rapid turnaround times—has helped All Axis gain a competitive advantage against competitors as more manufacturing facilities upgrade new and legacy equipment to meet the increasing demands of Industry 4.0 and the modern global marketplace.

All Axis and Makerbot Method

By producing the part with an in-house METHOD 3D printer, the team was able to eliminate undesirable factors typical of traditional manufacturing processes, including expensive machinist time and material costs.

And by approaching the part design through the lens of freeform additive manufacturing, the engineers were able to 3D model the part quickly without having to account for complex assembly considerations typical of traditional manufacturing processes.

The ability to print with soluble Stratasys® SR-30 supports allowed the engineers to design the sander as one complex part, which would’ve been impossible to machine. METHOD’s dimensional accuracy ensured that the part mated perfectly with the robot arm on the first try.

The use of production-grade Real ABS printed in a heated chamber produced a very strong and durable tool that is built to last.