Honda Accessorizes with 3D Printing

For many people their car is more than just a mode of transportation, a way to get from point A to point B. These people like to customize their rides, adding everything from rims to custom floor mats. For these individuals, the car becomes part hobby, part status symbol.

Car manufacturers are happy to encourage those ideas, particularly when they get a cut of the cash. Honda manufacturers and sells cars around the world, and customization is one of their services. Not long ago, serious automobile customization required a full machine shop with CNC and/or die capabilities, but that isn’t still the case.

On the left is a prototype customization of a fog light, while the right is the finished product. Courtesy of Stratasys.

“3D printers allow us to synchronize the development schedule with that of the vehicle itself and create the accessory parts simultaneously, improving both the quality and speed of the prototype process,” said Hiroshi Takemori, a senior researcher from Honda Access’ product planning department. “The technology has become indispensable for our business.”

Many of the custom parts created by Honda for its customers are one-of-a-kind pieces that would be expensive to prototype without access to additive manufacturing (AM). Honda, which has used the technology for prototyping since 2006, has fully embraced AM with the purchase of a Stratasys Object Eden500V, which allows it to do in-house prototyping and rapid design.

Along with custom pieces, Honda creates specific parts for its vehicles that change depending on where the automobile is meant to be sold. Takemori offered the following example relating to CR-V’s.

“In the United States, the vehicle is marketed to parents who use the vehicle to pick up and drop off their children, but in China it is positioned as the ultimate SUV and a status symbol. Since the vehicle body is built to the same standards worldwide, we use the accessories to give the car a little regional flavor.”

The parts that see the most customization include wheels, mirrors, and knobs. With each vehicle offering over 300 parts capable of being altered to reflect personal taste or regional flavor, rapid prototyping helps to deliver nearly endless possibilities.

Below you’ll find a video about 3D printing from Honda.

Source: Stratasys