Posted on: June 7, 2018, | By Brian, WayKen Project Manager
1. The Transformers in the Movie are Walking into Reality
I believe that many people must watch very hot movies (Transformers) and attracted by their cool and handsome image! Full of fighting power, ignites people’s blood temperature. These Transformers open people’s infinite imagination to the science fiction world. Of course, no real transformers can appear in the real world.
However, with the constant improvement of high-tech, the mighty robots are no longer the protagonists of science fiction movies. The robots that integrate blasting power with cool tech give birth to people’s real life.
1.1 Japanese company creates reality transformers
“Transformers” is the animated cartoon popular among teenagers. What’s more, the classical figure was brought to the big screen by Hollywood. Nowadays, most teenagers have a “Car People” toy displayed at home.
Japanese companies have spent three years on functional cars that have developed rideable, variable-size robots. This project has gone through 15 years and encountered several minor technical hurdles, but in the end, it was successfully overcome and manufactured.
The four-meter-high, oddly deformable machine called J-deite Ride, made by Asratec Corp., a robot software company affiliated with the Soft Bank Group.
The metamorphosis robot has 49 joints in its entire body, and the frame material is mainly made of aluminum alloy. In both modes, people can sit inside. Inside the robot, there is a cab. The manipulation of the robot can be performed manually in the cockpit or remotely controlled in a wireless or wired manner outside the cockpit.
The car is 4- meter long and 1.4- meter high and can accommodate two people. The robot retracted his hands and head, then lifted his legs, moved down the center of gravity, and sat in the driver’s seat. In just one minute, he could become a humanoid robot with a height of 3.7 meters and a width of 4.2 meters. Returning to the car is also extremely simple. The car has a theoretical speed of 60 kilometers per hour, and humanoid robots have a walking speed of 30 kilometers per hour and can be controlled by wireless remote control. This car is planned to be launched for amusement parks. Although this robot cannot save the world like cartoons and movies and TV dramas, this project can inspire people’s unlimited imagination and set an example for the future of applied technology.
Did you know that all the parts of this Transformer can be processed by CNC machining? Let’s look at the mysterious relationship between CNC milling service and “Transformer” in China.
1.2 A Chinese father makes Transformers
In Xi’an, China, a father of one of his children created “Transformers” armor for his son.
In fact, in China, there are many CNC processing factories. As long as you have drawings and ideas, they will meet your requirements and create a complete Transformer for you. By making separate parts and then assembling them, a complete transformer is formed.
1.3 Chinese peasants make Transformers
In China, there is another person who makes Transformers. He is is a farmer from Henan. After he saw the movie Transformers, he was attracted by it and started to make Transformers himself. This process, however, is very long and difficult, requires a lot of materials, and precise cnc milling calculations, size and structure issues. During the time, his wife had repeatedly asked him to give up the crazy ideal and even quarreled with him for several times, but he still persisted in completing the manufacture of Transformers in a year.
In China, there are already many CNC machine factories that can produce Transformers. They can manufacture the products that customers want in accordance with their strict dimensions, rigorous design, and different material requirements.
2. CNC Machining
From the above example, I believe we all know that people nowadays have begun to slowly walk into reality. Do you know how auto parts are made? In fact, the car’s limbs, head and even small parts can all be machined by the CNC and then painted.
Computer Numerical Control (CNC) is an automatic machine controlled by a program.
By integrating these advanced technologies such as computer-aided design, auxiliary manufacturing, digital control and other advanced technologies, the three-dimensional data model formed on the computer, in the machining center machine tool from a block of material cutting and dug.
After the workpiece is clamped once, the digital control system can control the machine tool to automatically select and change the tool according to different processes, and automatically change the spindle speed, feed amount, tool trajectory and other auxiliary functions of the tool spindle, and successively complete several workpieces. On multi-process processing, the entire process is automatically controlled by the program and is not affected by operators.
In CNC lathe processing, the determination of processing routes generally follows the following principles.
1）The accuracy and surface roughness of the workpiece to be machined should be guaranteed.
2）Minimize the processing route, reduce idle travel time, and improve processing efficiency.
3）Simplify the workload of numerical calculation as much as possible to simplify the processing procedure.
4）For some re-used programs, subroutines should be used.
2.1 What are the advantages of CNC?
1) High dimensional stability, high processing accuracy, and high repeatability. The size control is unmatched by existing RP technology.
2) The wide selection of materials, for example, almost all engineering plastics and metal materials can be processed by CNC universal milling machine so as to ensure the consistency of the prototype and mass production materials.
3) The surface finishes CNC machine parts is high. After grinding, polishing and surface treatment, the production effect can be completely comparable to that of the open mold products, and even higher.
4) The CNC machine can be used continuously 24 hours a day, and the processing efficiency is high.
5) Compared with RP technology, the processing of small batches or large-sized parts is more economical.
2.2 What are the disadvantages of CNC?
1) Due to the CNC parts structure and machine travel limitations, it may be necessary to splice into integral parts after block processing.
2) Due to the geometric limitations of the tool, the Z corner of the workpiece will have rounded corners, requiring manual post cleaning.
3) Data processing, path design, and fixture design are required. The workpiece needs to be positioned multiple times, and the CNC router processing must be processed step-by-step, causing human error.
4) The labor costs for programmers and operators are high.
2.3 Background of China prototype Industry
With the increasingly fierce competition in the social market and the growth of the industrial design industry, prototypes companies in China are paying attention to the production of product models while paying attention to industrial design. The development quality and actual effect of the product need to be verified with a hand-plate model. In this situation, the hand model industry gradually emerged from the prototyping industrial design process and became a relatively independent industry that flourished. Many professional prototype model companies emerged, and larger enterprises and industrial design companies also established their own prototype model department.
The master model industry can be called the future sunrise industry. The development status of the industry has its own advantages. Firstly, the social demand is large. The direct reason is that the company’s investment in product research and development increases. The indirect reason is related to the development of domestic social economy.
2.4 Wayken Rapid Prototyping Service
Wayken Rapid Prototyping is one of the leading custom manufacturing companies in China. From rapid prototyping to mass production, we offer you a range of solutions. Fast feedback and high-quality models can be realized with a variety of materials, including the production of plastics, metals and other composite materials.
According to your drawing, professional custom high-quality CNC manufacturing parts by our prototype development company.
Our range of services: Rapid Prototyping/3D Printing/CNC Milling/Vacuum Casting/Injection Molding.
