Creo Customer: Orphiro Brings Cool to the Electric Motorcycle

By GEOFF HEDGES | Published: NOVEMBER 30, 2011

Electric motorcycles have been around for a while, but to be honest, most look like dirt bikes as style takes a backseat to fit and function. Alexander Steegh thought he could do better. That’s why he invented the Orphiro, an electric cruiser that would make Steve McQueen proud. The Orphiro plays clear homage to legendary chopper designs like Harley, in a ride that’s both comfortable and sustainable.

Rendering of Orphiro Electric Motorbike

Steegh, from the Netherlands, packed his motorcycle with award-winning innovation and power. But he didn’t do it alone. He enlisted a team of a dozen people including freelance industrial designer Nout van Heumen. Together, they brought the Orphiro from idea to market in just 18 months.

“The first concept design was based on paper sketches from Jansen Creative Design,” says Nout. “With Creo Parametric and the Creo Interactive Surfacing Design Extension, I quickly started creating the complex shell of the bike. The smooth continuous body shape is created as one body using advanced surface options, and then I part and sectioned it to produce the different manufacturable parts. The body is weatherproof and easy to disassemble too.”

Working just one day a week on the project over the past 2 months, Nout says the bike got to market so quickly because his design software eliminated the need for many prototypes. “By using Creo Parametric’s digital manikin [an adjustable human form for checking how humans fit with a model], I could precisely design and position the handlebar, saddle, display, and foot supports for our target buyers. And at every stage, I could check the 3D design for part interference, even for moving mechanisms, again avoiding physical prototypes.”

Not only was the whole Orphiro modeled in Creo Parametric, but the production molds for the body shell were also created in Creo.

Bike and Body Shell molds created in Creo Parametric

Launched in September 2011, the Orphiro is a wide body cruiser completely designed and built from the ground up, including drive train, frame, and bodywork. The current version has a top speed of 120 km/h, thanks to 72 volts of power provided by its Li-ion batteries.

And as you might expect from the first-ever cool-looking electric motorcycle, the awards have already started pouring in, including the Accenture’s Innovation Award 2011, in the Energy category.

Images courtesy of Orphiro.
Blog Courtesy : www.creo.ptc.com 

Demos & Tech Tips: Live Webcast Schedule

PTC Demos & Tech Tips: Live Webcast Schedule

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December 2011 (Asia/Calcutta)

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
			1	2
5	6 9:30 PM - 10:30 PM Introduction to Creo Parametric 11:30 PM - 12:30 AM Effective Collaboration from Products to Projects	7	8	9 12:30 AM - 1:30 AM Digital Mockups with Creo View 1:00 AM - 2:00 AM Data Repair  9:30 PM - 10:30 PM Manufacturing in Creo Parametric 10:00 PM - 11:30 PM Large Assembly Management
12	13 10:00 PM - 11:00 PM Introduction to Behavioral Modeling	14 1:00 AM - 3:00 AM Top-Down Design  10:30 PM - 11:30 PM CAD Data Management Solutions	15 1:00 AM - 2:00 AM Basic Sheetmetal Tips  10:30 PM - 11:30 PM PLM Overview Demo for SMB 10:30 PM - 11:30 PM PTC University eLearning Libraries Demonstration	16 12:30 AM - 1:30 AM Productivity Gains in Creo Parametric 9:30 PM - 10:30 PM Introduction to Creo Simulate
19	20 9:30 PM - 10:30 PM Introduction to Creo Parametric 11:30 PM - 12:30 AM Medical Device Best Practices for FDA and ISO Compliance	21 1:00 AM - 2:00 AM Analyzing Models Using Creo Simulate  10:30 PM - 11:30 PM Introduction to Windchill Compliance	22 1:00 AM - 1:30 AM There Can Only Be One--Merging Multiple Designs and Iterations	23 12:30 AM - 1:30 AM Introduction to Flexible Modeling in Creo Parametric 1:00 AM - 2:00 AM Surface Design in Creo Parametric
26	27 10:00 PM - 11:00 PM Creating Mill Surfaces, Windows, Volumes, and Profiles in Creo Parametric	28	29 10:30 PM - 11:30 PM PLM Overview Demo for SMB	30

Creating Flexibility Using Pro/Program

Pro/Program can be used in a variety of ways.  In this tip we will explore using it to create added flexibility to your designs.  For basic information regarding the ProProgram functionality in Creo Elements Pro and getting started with Pro/Program follow this link.

Getting Started with Pro/Program

In this example we will demonstrate regenerating a bent model with a corner radius to a straight/linear model.

Step 1:

Create a sketch with 2 lines at an angle to each other.

Step 2:

Extrude a Surface through the sketch.

Step 3:

Create a Round on the corner of the surface.

Step 4:

Create an Intersect curve referencing the datum plane and the extruded surface feature.

Step 5:

Hide the extruded surface and sweep the desired geometry along the Intersect created curve.

 

Step 6:

Editing the Program

• Choose Tools/Program/Edit Design.
• In the editer that the design list is opened in scroll down to the round feature that was created in the model.
• On the line above the “Add Feature” line, type “IF d3 < 179”.  Note: (or the name of the angle dim on the first curve created in the process, if yours is not d3)
• Then, type “END IF” after the END ADD statement line for the round feature

This tells Creo to add the round feature if the angle is specified some value less than 179, otherwise don’t regenerate the round or remove it from the design.  This results in creating the sweep feature along a straight trajectory.

• Save and close the file from Notepad
• Answer “Yes” to incorporate the changes into the model
• TRY IT OUT!  Change the angle dimension to 180.

This is one simple example for using Pro/Program to make your designs more flexible.  See if you can extrapolate from here and use it in others ways.

Source : http://communities.ptc.com/community/creo/blog/2011/02/07/creating-flexibility-using-proprogram