JEC COMPOSITES MAGAZINE - EXPERT’S DIGEST - ADDITIVE MANUFACTURING - 2020 - 114

EXPERT'S DIGEST
3D PRINTING
automotive

The Energica dashboard reinvented through
professional 3D printing and composite materials

By
Matteo Levoni Bemposti,
Head of the Reverse
Engineering Department
Emanuele Grotti,
Assistant Production Manager
CRP Technology

T

he Energica project stems from
the entrepreneurial vision of
the Cevolini family, owners of
the CRP Group, after the CRP Racing
experience in parallel with eCRP back
in 2009.

The CRP Group was fundamental for
the industrial development of Energica
since the very first prototypes, which
contained parts made with selective laser sintering technology and Windform®
carbon or glass fibre-filled composite
materials. The materials were engineered by the R&D department of CRP
Technology, the CRP Group's company
that has been dealing with professional
3D printing for over 20 years.
Energica has also benefited from the
experience gained by the CRP Group
in over 45 years of activity as a supplier
of innovative and cutting-edge technological solutions alongside the major
F1, Moto GP, Rally Raid and ALMS
teams. The Group has always provided
these teams with a high level of support
all along the development phase of the
projects, from the early stages of design
and development to the construction

In Modena, the homeland of supercars and the Motor Valley of Italy,
the first high-performance fully-electric motorcycle, " Ego " , was born at
Energica Motor Company S.p.A. Ego was rigorously developed using F1
technologies and high-performance composite materials. Energica was
created and engineered through the CRP Group, whose decades-long
activity in the field of high-precision CNC machining and professional
3D printing, along with composite materials for additive manufacturing,
allowed the creation of innovative and avant-garde solutions that have
made Energica a unique model throughout the world.
process, with consequent recognition of
an innovative approach in the use of new
materials and technologies.
The idea behind the dashboard
Right from the very start, the Energica
team endorsed the idea of creating
an innovative dashboard capable of
containing, protecting, and isolating
cutting-edge, very complex electronics.
The studies and tests conducted by the
company, along with the specialized
and trustworthy supplier Cobo, led to
the creation of a 4.3 " dashboard using a
display with 16.7 million active-matrix
colours that provides excellent visibility.
The active-matrix dashboard creates a
real human-machine interface for motorcycles. This technology allows great
flexibility, supporting the flow of information and interactivity with the vehicle
system. It can provide an extensive menu
of configurations and advanced user
diagnostics, which are easy to read.
Creation of 3D printing prototypes
CRP Technology produced three
functional prototypes, using the selective laser sintering technology and a
polyamide-based composite material
reinforced with glass fibre.

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For all three prototypes, the development and validation of the components
(hardware and software) and the
verification of the design solutions
were carried out applying specific test
plans aimed at verifying both the full
correspondence to the functional needs
and compliance with the quality and
reliability objectives.
The decision to opt for the creation
of prototypes, that would allow a
thorough study to reduce the margins
of error on the injection mould, is the
result of a process undertaken by CRP
Technology together with the Energica
Motor Company team engineers.
First prototype
The shell was made in two separate
parts. Energica's suppliers of traditional
technology (mould makers) would
have taken roughly five months to
prepare the prototype moulds. Thanks
to CRP Technology and the Windform®
composite materials, the prototype was
received in two days.
The next phase involved assembling
electronic components and securing
them with mastic/glue. No difficulties
or problems were found during this
phase.

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