First Russian Unmanned Car to be Equipped with 3D-Printed Suspension Parts

Russia’s first unmanned racing electric car BRT-8D will be utilizing key suspension parts made by Rostec using 3D printing manufacturing process.

The 3D printed parts are made by 3D printing at the Center for Additive Technologies of the State Corporation.

Rostec will be using selective laser melting (SLM) technology to build the required parts. This technology works by melting metal powder in the printer’s building chamber using a laser. This process helps achieve strength and rigidity in the part.

The part was developed using topological optimization, a technique used to find the best material layout for given technical parameters.

“In the project to create the first unmanned racing car, the benefits of additive technologies are especially visible. The production of a part of the suspension using a 3D printer made it possible to significantly reduce its weight, increase rigidity, while maintaining all the strength characteristics, which is very important for a racing car. Today, additive technologies make it possible to manufacture any product without design restrictions, significantly reducing production time. So, the details for the BRT-8D were ‘printed’ by the CAT specialists in just 64 hours,” said Vladislav Kochkurov, Director General of the CAT.

The car is being developed by the Bauman Moscow State Technical University to participate in the international student engineering competition FormulaStudent of the FSD class (Formula Student Driverless). The Bauman Racing Team is preparing for the first time on the BRT-8D car at the Russian stage of the championship.