3D Digitizing

The device that I'm using for digitalization is this one:

Steinbichler Comet 5













That's a system ideal for product development and quality control.
By scanning the surfaces of a real model, it creates STL mesh, which must be properly treated with apropriate software (geomagic, powershape, etc) converting the STL in surfaces. This task is a little bit boring and might take long.

 

This picture shows the surfaces being build while I'm taking shots. The software allows to paste each shot in order to link each other until form a unique mesh.
Only this example can have between 50 to 100 shots accoding to the accuracy that we desire.







More technical information about the 3D Digitizer go to the site:
http://www.steinbichler.com/en/main/comet_5.htm

Bibliography & References

Here is some sources for my work.

Today it's easy to find interesting links to guide us in every tasks. There's many information about this issue given by people who loves to share the knowledge.

For example:

To disassembling the engine I had the precious help from:

http://www.scootermercato.com/Garage/Tech-Tips

But check this site because there's more useful tips.

Here goes another:

http://www.scooterhelp.com/

Maintenance, electric and assembly diagrams and other stuff.

Many of this info you can find also in other websites.

Why "Leggera"?

Vespa through the years presented many specific models of the same standard model. Names like "sprint", "veloce", "granturismo", etc were used to distinguish an specific characteristic. But the standard construction remained. 

Following the same ideia of the creators, I decided to call to this project the name "Leggera", which means lightweight in italian. It's pretending a new special model that Piaggio launched very lightweight.

Parts to be scanned

As I told before, the parts that will be replicated are these made of steel:

The side panel that covers the engine

 The side panel with the glove compartment











The lid of the compartment

The front mudguard









And the most important part:

The monocoque chassis












That's the one which will be hardly studied. Substitute the material but remaining the mechanical properties won't be easy.

Meet the Vespa

Here is my vintage Vespa!

Now totally disassembled!

After long hours of  work and dirty hands, here is the result:

A kind of puzzle.

I even got courage to disassemble all the engine.

I made a support for the engine in order to assemble it and tune while the other parts are used to digitalize and to build the molds.

Later the process of  making the molds will be explained.

 

Presentation

Hello to everyone!
I´m Luis Pedro Sousa from Leiria, Portugal.
I´m currently attending a Master of Concept and Product Development Engineering in Polytechnic Institute of Leiria.
The final thesis which I’ll defend is related with the structural behaviour of a Vespa’s vintage monocoque chassis.
I will compare the behaviour between an original steel chassis and one that I´ll build made of epoxy resin and carbon fiber.

This chassis made of carbon fiber will be completed with motor, steering column, etc. until I get a new vintage vespa. I will sacrifice my ’68 Vespa in the name of science.
Mudguards, side panels as well as saddles will also be made of carbon fiber.
The goal is to create a replica with an ultra-light structure, corrosion resistant, but simultaneously with the structural behavior equal or better than the original made of steel.
Is it possible? I hope so!

Rheologic analisys will be done in both chassis (Steel vs. Fiber), as well as road tests. In our Institute we use the Ansys Software to simulate the forces and stresses aplied in 3D structures. It will be helpful to take decisions in order to reinforce the structure.