Students at Nelson and Colne College Group are designing their own car, utilising skills used in industry. The metal chassis, donated by employer partner AMRC North West, offers students the opportunity to learn the process of scanning and manufacturing a car body in the same way as it would be replicated in industry.
After taking delivery of the car, students studying a range of courses, from engineering to automotive, completed the first stage of the build - 3D scanning the vehicle.
Chris Harrison from CREATE Education attended the Nelson and Colne College campus to work with the learners.
He said: “The idea of 3D scanning the shell of the vehicle is to get accurate measurements so the students can start designing and building bodywork to scale.” The students covered the frame of the car in hundreds of reflective market stickers, which are picked up by the state-of-the-art scanner and overlapped to make an accurate render of the item.
Chris continued: “We must put a lot of marker stickers onto the frame of the vehicle so that the scanner can recognise them. Once the mapping is complete, the students can manipulate to design and build bodywork that will fit the chassis – such as windows, bodywork and interior accurately to within about a millimetre per cubic metre.” Chris Mayoh, Director of Engineering, Construction & Motor Vehicle, added: “The next stage is to work with the students to create the design for the vehicle, and 3D print sections of the of car.”
The vehicle will be created in stages, utilising the skills, knowledge and tools from different departments and subject areas across the college.
Iain Martin, Head of Engagement at AMRC North West, said: “Enabling our future workforce to gain experience of real-world challenges that replicate the needs of industry during their studies is vital. We are extremely pleased to have supported this forward-thinking initiative with the college.”
