The Importance of 3D Printing in Midnight Sun
Original Time Stamp: November 13th, 2019 (Originally posted on uwmidsun.com and has now been moved to Medium)
In the last 5 years, additive manufacturing has taken a huge leap forward in availability and capability. With these new technologies, components that were previously machined or molded can now be printed on demand, at a much lower cost. A whole range of new part geometries are possible thanks to these new manufacturing technologies, and parts can be significantly reduced in weight and size.
None of this would be possible without the stock material for the 3D printing machines — filament. We primarily use PETG filament for its ease of printing and temperature properties. Our car can reach temperatures of up to 40 degrees which can deform some PLA prints. With PETG, we get the ease of printing of PLA, the temperature resistance that we need, and great impact resistance. In the future, we are looking to test some carbon fiber and nylon-based filaments to see where else we can make our car lighter and easier to manufacture.
We are incredibly grateful for the sponsorship of 3D Printing Canada, for providing us with filament for our next car, Midnight Sun XIV (MSXIV), to help push the boundaries of solar powered transportation.
Our filament use can range from 0.5–5kg per month, with heavier usage during manufacturing periods. MSXIV is now in the manufacturing period and will require a minimum 2kg of filament per month, with an expected total of around 10kg.
Numerous components inside of our cars are 3D printed. Below, you will find a few examples of how 3D printing was used in both our past and present vehicles.
STEERING STALK MOUNT
Located in our last car, Midnight Sun XII (MS-XII), the steering stalk mount holds our steering stalk in position while the steering wheel and steering shaft rotates. Quick prototyping and fast turnaround times made 3D printing ideal for this part. We will be creating a similar component for MSXIV.
CUSTOM PCB ENCLOSURES
If you were to lift the trunk of our previous car, MSXII, you will find multiple custom PCB enclosures, which protect PCB components (e.g. circuitry) from damage caused by debris and other objects that may have come in contact with the car during races. They also serve as great isolation barriers on our Solar Sense boards (pictured above), which control our solar charging. We chose to 3D print them as we needed the versatility to create custom enclosures for each board.
CUSTOM BATTERY TESTING SCALE
All of the battery cells going into our car needed to be tested for multiple parameters, including weight. To accomplish the weight testing, we built a custom scale using specific hardware and created a custom holder for our cells. This made processing the 1400 cells much easier. The 3D printed holder allowed the cells to balance on the scale without worrying about them falling off.
Once again, we would like to extend our most sincere gratitude to 3D Printing Canada for their generosity and contributions. We greatly appreciate all the support and without their help, we would not be able to achieve our goals. We look forward to future partnerships with 3D Printing Canada, as we continue to grow and embark on our next journey.
To learn more about UW Midnight Sun and our cars, please visit uwmidsun.com, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn or send us an email at solar@uwmidsun.com.
