PSA Group, the giants behind Peugeot and Citroën have signed aStrategic Partnership Letter of Intentwith Divergent 3D – but what确切地is their intent?
记住3D打印的超级跑车November 2015?
The aptly titledBlade,is a Divergent 3D project, and went on to win theNorth American Technology Innovation Awardthis year for its cutting edge status: boasting speedsfaster than a Ferrari; one third of the weight than your average sports car; and, just as crucially, a dramatically lower environmental impact.
制造排放Divergent Microfactoriesand Competitors
With a future demanding cars that are sustainable, efficientandconscientious, it is simply thatthe race is onto manufacture machines to meet this demand.
And, though the spare parts market is going to remain a cornerstone for the automotive industry for years – who hasn’t dropped their exhaust on the M1? – this particular partnership is instead looking to:
“改变整体车辆结构的设计和制造” - PSA Groupe
Part of Divergent’s success is in their trademarkNode™ technology, which takes a modular approach to building cars. Since their inception, the company have been aiming to release this technology for startups to use, with an overall objective todemocratize the car industry.
Here at 3DPI we wanted to know how such ideals work in collaboration with a decidedly more ‘corporate’ direction, and also what to expect from this ambitious project.
Read on for our interview with Divergent 3DCEO Kevin Czinger, talking more about cutting the weight of carsin half, non-exclusive partnerships with PSA and Altran, and the vision of a Divergent Manufacturing Platform™.
您探索了用于汽车制造的3D打印技术已有多长时间了？
We began research on using 3D printing to enable building modular chassis structures (to replace metal tooling and stamping for automobile manufacturing) in 2012 […]
我们认为，3D金属印刷是一种指数级技术，当与其他新技术结合使用时）dramatic increases in print speed and quality over the next 3-5 years.Starting early in this space has allowed us to file what we consider to be the industry foundational patents for using 3D metal printing to build modular structures for a wide range of industries.
What are the most important things to consider about a partnership with PSA? What would you like to achieve together?
The primary objective of the partnership is to commercialize our proprietary software-hardware platform by building full vehicles with PSA using our (3D metal printing enabled) modular vehicle structure. This has the potential to dramatically change the economics and product cycle speed of car design and manufacturing. For example, we believe we canreduce the vehicle structure weightof a standardfive passenger vehicleby over50%and the number of parts by over75%.
What can we expect from you in the next 6 – 12 months?
We are focused on building successful strategic partnerships with PSA and Altran, and continually expanding our IP portfolio. […] Both PSA and Altran partnerships are non-exclusive and we plan to be working with multiple OEMs over time. Our business model is focused on implementing and licensing our technology platform.
Are we going to be seeing any more supercars like the Blade?
The Blade is a technology demonstrator embodying the functional beauty that can be achieved through the new technology base Divergent is using. We continue to evolve the Blade chassis structure by building and testing versions of it. That is part of our core research & development.
Previously, we had heard that you might be making your Node™ technology available for start-ups to use, is that still true even with your corporate partnership?
Our long term vision is to have a technology platform –the Divergent Manufacturing Platform™- 自动化汽车设计并从根本上减少制造车辆所需的成本和时间。我们需要商业化和标准化平台；最好，最快的方法是与PSA这样的主要汽车制造商合作。
[…]we are committed to democratizing and re-localizing manufacturing.Our strategy is to work with major OEMs to commercialize the Divergent Manufacturing Platform™. As the technology develops and cost comes down over the long term, we hope to be able to offer our technology platform to independent teams of vehicle manufacturers.
Without a doubt, the Divergent team remains committed to their goals, and the PSA Groupe is certainly making a smart move for the future.
I personally can’t wait to see what will be created by startups once the Node technology is available, and am waiting for the day that somebody prints a car in their own garage.
