3D Laser Scanning Used To Modify Air Racing Planes
A flight fight using 3D laser scanning services
“Drivers, start your engines!” When most of us think Formula One, we think big crowds. We think sunny skies, and we think about the whizzing sound that engines make as they speed by. Now take all of that excitement and point it into the sky. That is what is called the Red Bull Air Race. It is an intense high speed acrobatic plane race piloted by some of the best of the best. “Flyers, start your propellers!” The competition is intense. So intense that it goes beyond just flying skills. Each team has to work on their plane to make it as aerodynamic as possible. For this reason, this competition has some of most smooth flying planes in the world.
the best of the best needs 3D laser scanning
The goal, of course, is to get that plane to slice through the air as smoothly as possible. That is not a simple task for a couple reasons. The first reason is because of the intense competition. This is not a competition of just pure piloting skills. This is also a competition of engineering skills. You can bet your high flying dollar that there are no dummies staring at a drawing board in this crowd. Hiring a novice engineer working with a world class pilot just isn’t happening. The second reason why improving aerodynamics is so difficult is because teams have to work on planes without complete design layouts of the craft. This is because the plane manufacturer does not provide for them a CAD model for the plane. This of course provides a difficulty for doing modification to the design. They need a solution.
3D laser scanning goes to work
The solution to this problem is found in 3D laser scanning services. Using traditional methods for measuring the exact shape of the plane body would be difficult and time consuming. To try to make a digital model using a traditional way of measuring could take weeks. With 3D laser scanning services, though, it can be done rather easily. 3D laser scanning technology can easily take the exact shape of the aircraft and put it into digital form. The 3D laser scanning method is also very precise and able to collect data to a very small degree over a very large surface are. Older methods could not produce such results and maybe even had errors. Once the data was collected and stored into the computer system, the engineers could then see exact measurements of the craft. Also, they could run tests on the craft to test the quality of its aerodynamics. Then they could do modifications to find ways to make it even more streamlined.
3D laser scanning services can take a difficult problem and make it simple in no time at all. Modifying airplanes for the Red Bull Air Race is just one example. It is easy to see how 3D laser scanning services could also be used for other that require precise measurements when exact CAD models are not available. If the engineers are on tip of their game, they will turn to 3D laser scanning technology to get the job done quick and fast.