Composite Self-Driving Shuttle by Additive Manufacturing

(Local Motors)

The Olli self-driving shuttle is a low speed electric vehicle transportation solution for widespread application as a people mover. The use of large scale additive manufacturing of composite materials was employed in an efficient and elegant design that produces a structure comparable in weight and at significantly reduced cost and development time compared to an existing prototype design with an aluminum chassis. The design utilizes two main 3d printed components, the upper and lower chassis, connected together with aluminum extrusions and composite corner structures manufactured on 3d printed tooling. The simple design optimizes the use of composites and additive manufacturing.