Wearing a helmet is very important when doing physical or dangerous activities. Wearing a helmet can be the difference between life and death, especially in high speed racing. In fact, every racer has to wear one. A helmet serves multiple purposes for race car drivers. Not only can they protect the racer for serious injury or death, but they also used to communicate with the rest of the race crew. Every helmet consists of a rigid shell for protection, and a soft inside for a comfortable fit on the head of the racer. The main purpose is to absorb as much impact as possible so that the head doesn't have to take it. When traveling at speeds that high, that protection becomes very necessary.
Our assigned task was to design a Formula 1 racing helmet that could possibly be used during a race using Autodesk's Fusion 360. This means that it needs to be sturdy, yet comfortable for the person wearing it.
Our learning objectives for this project consisted of:
When designing a helmet, there are many considerations that need to be taken into account: safety, comfort, reliability, durability, etc. The most important thing in order to do this is knowledge of physics. Physics allows us to understand the world around us, and design our products in compliance with its laws. The designing of a helmet incorporates many physics concepts such as the ones listed:
ACCELERATION is a change in speed over a period of time; the higher the acceleration, the faster the change in speed.
COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION is the measurement of the level of friction embodied in a particular material.
CRUMPLE ZONES are areas of an object designed to deform and crumple in an impact, as a means to absorb the energy of a collision.
DRAG is a term used in fluid dynamics that is sometimes referred to as air resistance or fluid resistance.
INERTIA: when an object remains still or moves in a constant direction at a constant speed.
G FORCE: a force acting on a body as a result of acceleration or gravity, informally described in units of acceleration equal to 1 g.
FRICTION is a force that resists motion when two objects or surfaces come in contact.
FORCE causes masses to accelerate; they are influences that cause a change of movement, direction, or shape.
KINETIC FRICTION (or dynamic friction) occurs when two objects are moving relative to each other and rub together (like a sled on the ground).
Our assigned task was to design a Formula 1 racing helmet that could possibly be used during a race using Autodesk's Fusion 360. This means that it needs to be sturdy, yet comfortable for the person wearing it.
Our learning objectives for this project consisted of:
- Creating a 3D model of a helmet using Autodesk Fusion 360
- Defining relationships between the elements of the helmet and build the assembly
- Generating photo-realistic images of the helmet
- Describing how helmets provide impact protection by dissipating crash energy
- Explaining Newton's 2nd Law of Motion
- Calculating impact force
- Explaining how friction and mass effect motion
- Describing the general structure and material used to create a helmet
When designing a helmet, there are many considerations that need to be taken into account: safety, comfort, reliability, durability, etc. The most important thing in order to do this is knowledge of physics. Physics allows us to understand the world around us, and design our products in compliance with its laws. The designing of a helmet incorporates many physics concepts such as the ones listed:
ACCELERATION is a change in speed over a period of time; the higher the acceleration, the faster the change in speed.
COEFFICIENT OF FRICTION is the measurement of the level of friction embodied in a particular material.
CRUMPLE ZONES are areas of an object designed to deform and crumple in an impact, as a means to absorb the energy of a collision.
DRAG is a term used in fluid dynamics that is sometimes referred to as air resistance or fluid resistance.
INERTIA: when an object remains still or moves in a constant direction at a constant speed.
G FORCE: a force acting on a body as a result of acceleration or gravity, informally described in units of acceleration equal to 1 g.
FRICTION is a force that resists motion when two objects or surfaces come in contact.
FORCE causes masses to accelerate; they are influences that cause a change of movement, direction, or shape.
KINETIC FRICTION (or dynamic friction) occurs when two objects are moving relative to each other and rub together (like a sled on the ground).
Our task was to use steps to make the helmet. First, we had to watch some videos explaining how to use the software. Fusion 360 is a professional piece of software, and it is not by any means easy to use. Having said this, once one becomes proficient in using it, the possibilities are nearly endless. As students, we needed to build up a basic understanding of the software before we could start the designing of out helmets. The videos were necessary, because many of the skills used in Fusion 360 are not very easily self-taught.
Once we learned how to use the software a little bit, we were able to go into the design stage of our helmets. We did this using a method that allowed our helmets to be a lot more precise. We needed to download 4 isometric models of the helmet, and line them up on each side (front, back, 2 sides). In order to make our helmets accurate, we used a front, side, and back view to line up our 3D helmets with the isometric models. This allowed us to keep the shape and form of our helmets very consistent, so that the final product would look presentable.
After we finished creating the shape and form of the helmet, we then had to go onto the details. The main detail we had to add was the shield. We watched a video on how to cut out a hole from the helmet, and insert a piece of glass to act as the shield for a helmet. The main purpose for a shield on a helmet is to protect the drivers face, and make the driver more aerodynamic, which is very important at those high speeds.
Once our designs had been perfected and finalized, it was time to texture the helmet. This was the point in the design process where our ideas started to feel a little bit more like reality. We were able to give our helmets personality, like it was our very own helmet. Giving it texture made it look more like a tangible object, and less like a computer graphic, which was fascinating to see. We gave our helmets texture, and then rendered it so that the quality was at its highest.
This was the helmet design and texture that I finalized and rendered:
Once our designs had been perfected and finalized, it was time to texture the helmet. This was the point in the design process where our ideas started to feel a little bit more like reality. We were able to give our helmets personality, like it was our very own helmet. Giving it texture made it look more like a tangible object, and less like a computer graphic, which was fascinating to see. We gave our helmets texture, and then rendered it so that the quality was at its highest.
This was the helmet design and texture that I finalized and rendered:
I learned a lot from doing this activity. The main point of it was to give us practice in using the Autodesk software so that we can use it to create designs for our capstone project. The point of a 3D model is to come after a sketch, and make an idea look more like a reality. This allows people to visualize the thing that they have come up with, and gives them more of a sense of whether or not their idea is good. The biggest thing I learned was of course how to actually use the software. In the future, I would love to become an entrepreneur, and in order to do this, I have to come up with ideas. Knowing how to create these ideas and turn them into actual images will be very useful. It will allow me to actually get a visual representation of my idea, because sometimes, ideas don't always look the same in your head as they do in real life. I also learned a lot about how physics is incorporated in equipment design. At first glance, a helmet looks like a simple contraption, but it is quite the contrary. There is so much thought and science that has to go into a helmet for it to work, and it gave me a much greater appreciation for people who do this stuff for a living. It's not as easy as it looks.