By Scott Hale
Every fire department has different needs. Thus, input from emergency personnel is so important when emergency vehicles are custom built. Each truck must be carefully engineered to carry certain types of equipment, making the manufacturing a difficult and expensive process. At SVI Trucks, engineers found they could be more efficient in meeting customized requirements using 3D virtual models to help them visualize the design and manufacturing process without ever cutting into real metal.
By creating 3D virtual models with Autodesk Inventor, SVI can place the most common components into a 3D version of a new truck very easily. Then, as engineers move to the more specific requirements of each order, they can detect and deal with problems during the design phase rather than during assembly. These 3D models also allow customers to view their trucks in infinite cross-sectional slices, enabling them to provide much better feedback on placement decisions for maximum efficiency.
Avatech Solutions helps companies like SVI implement Autodesk design solutions that prevent design and manufacturing problems. “When we first started working with Avatech to implement 3D, we were really just trying to solve our interference problems at the assembly stage to save money and reduce rework,” says David Moore Sargent, engineering manager at SVI. “What we found is that in addition to solving many tight-fit problems, we significantly enhanced our ability to improve on our designs. This happened for two reasons: The first was that SVI engineers now did not have to redraw components but could instead use this new-found time to work on producing better layouts; the second was that the engineering team could see visually how components might clash with each other.”
3D models help SVI design trucks that customers can use to efficiently organize tools and equipment for rapid and safe access. With the detail provided by the 3D images, SVI Trucks can collaborate with customers much better. For example, one customer asked SVI engineers to design a truck with storage areas that would hold four-foot by eight-foot sheets of plywood, used for shoring unstable structures, which could be accessible from the back of the truck. “We generated a drawing that incorporated this request,” says Sargent. “We also generated a drawing with the plywood stored so that it could be accessed from either side of the truck.”
“The final design allowed for an increase in compartment space, permitting us to include several additional pieces of equipment. With plywood sheets accessible from either side, hardware could be unloaded from the side of the truck away from traffic or other activity. The result is a truck that keeps firefighters safe and allows them to respond to emergencies more effectively,” Sargent adds.
There are many projects at SVI in which design has played a role in making the work of firefighters easier. “In a recent project, we were able to design and locate two complete hydraulic power tool systems on opposite sides of the truck,” says Sargent. “The vehicle operates in an area adjacent to an interstate and, with duplicate systems, firefighters are able to get the hydraulic tools out of the truck and operational in less time. This configuration also allows the firefighters to work in a safe zone, away from passing traffic, by using the hydraulics on the curbside no matter which way the truck is facing.”
SVI has also designed and manufactured a small rescue truck capable of producing compressed air to fill SCBA bottles on-scene. This truck is the first of its kind with the ability to produce a large volume of clean air from such a small, mobile platform. The 3D modeling software enabled the design team to add the necessary structure to support the heavy compressor while keeping the overall weight of the vehicle below chassis limits. This truck is more mobile than its larger cousin, so fire departments can now get into places that may have been unreachable before to supply life-saving breathing air for emergency victims and on-site air tank replenishment for firefighters.
One of the benefits of better design is that it produces better value. Funding for most emergency vehicles comes from tax dollars; if trucks can do more and cost less, then that is good value. SVI’s engineering team tries to optimize each vehicle’s ability to carry out new tasks by incorporating different resources so that the vehicle can respond to multiple kinds of calls. The visualization benefits gained from designing trucks with Autodesk Inventor allow SVI engineers to better mesh disparate systems into one vehicle and provide more services from one unit. In the end, this means taxpayers pay fewer dollars for more and better services.
SCOTT HALE is the director of manufacturing solutions for Avatech Solutions, Inc.
