3D Printed Grips Help Korean Archers Win Gold at Tokyo Olympics
Photo courtesy of Yoon-Sik Kim / Hyundai Motor Group
The Korean archery team continued its dominance at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics with the help of 3D printed grips provided by automotive manufacturer Hyundai Motor Group.
The team won gold medals in the men's, women's, and mixed team events at this year's Olympics, bringing the total number of medals won by Korean archers to 103 since 1984. Hyundai Group has provided technical support to the Korean Archery Association for over three decades and has been utilizing technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), biometric information, big data, and 3D printing since the last Rio Olympics.
In addition to providing optimized 3D printed grips for archers, Hyundai also uses 3D scanning technology for non-destructive inspection of the team's bows.
The 3D printed grips installed on the bows vary greatly from one athlete to another, including the required shape and materials.
Optimizing Performance with 3D Printing and Scanning
In preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Hyundai Motor provided technical support to the Korean archery team, supplying them with qualified bows and optimized equipment for each athlete.
Hyundai's advanced 3D CT scanning equipment was used to develop a new non-destructive inspection model to analyze the team's bows. This technology measures whether there is any internal damage to the bow during repeated drawing by creating a 3D model image. As the bow rotates 360°, the 3D scanner takes tens of thousands of photos to get a comprehensive understanding of the bow's performance.
Hyundai Motor also improved the 3D printed grips it had been providing to the team since the 2016 Rio Olympics. The 3D printed grips are customized to each athlete's hand shape and now offer a wider variety of materials based on the athlete's preferences.
Previously, grips were only made from synthetic resin material, but now they are made from heat-resistant resin, which can be quickly customized. Although the PA12 material produced by international printing company HP is durable, it takes longer to manufacture. The grips also feature newly developed materials, namely a combination of aluminide, aluminum, and polyamide, as well as solid wood and polyurethane, to provide better grip. According to Hyundai Motor, archers Jin-Hyuk Oh and Woo-Jin Kim were particularly impressed with the 3D printed grips. After testing by multiple athletes, the grip was deemed to have excellent usability and was used as the primary grip by the archery team during the Tokyo Olympics.
The team won gold medals in the men's, women's, and mixed team events at this year's Olympics, bringing the total number of medals won by Korean archers to 103 since 1984. Hyundai Group has provided technical support to the Korean Archery Association for over three decades and has been utilizing technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), biometric information, big data, and 3D printing since the last Rio Olympics.
In addition to providing optimized 3D printed grips for archers, Hyundai also uses 3D scanning technology for non-destructive inspection of the team's bows.
The 3D printed grips installed on the bows vary greatly from one athlete to another, including the required shape and materials.
Optimizing Performance with 3D Printing and Scanning
In preparation for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Hyundai Motor provided technical support to the Korean archery team, supplying them with qualified bows and optimized equipment for each athlete.
Hyundai's advanced 3D CT scanning equipment was used to develop a new non-destructive inspection model to analyze the team's bows. This technology measures whether there is any internal damage to the bow during repeated drawing by creating a 3D model image. As the bow rotates 360°, the 3D scanner takes tens of thousands of photos to get a comprehensive understanding of the bow's performance.
Hyundai Motor also improved the 3D printed grips it had been providing to the team since the 2016 Rio Olympics. The 3D printed grips are customized to each athlete's hand shape and now offer a wider variety of materials based on the athlete's preferences.
Previously, grips were only made from synthetic resin material, but now they are made from heat-resistant resin, which can be quickly customized. Although the PA12 material produced by international printing company HP is durable, it takes longer to manufacture. The grips also feature newly developed materials, namely a combination of aluminide, aluminum, and polyamide, as well as solid wood and polyurethane, to provide better grip. According to Hyundai Motor, archers Jin-Hyuk Oh and Woo-Jin Kim were particularly impressed with the 3D printed grips. After testing by multiple athletes, the grip was deemed to have excellent usability and was used as the primary grip by the archery team during the Tokyo Olympics.
Hyundai Motor Group provides customized 3D grips made from various optimized materials for each archer. Photo credit: Yoon-Sik Kim
3D Printing at Tokyo 2020
In addition to archery, 3D printed equipment also appeared in several different events at this year's Olympics. An increasing number of athletes are leveraging this technology to gain a competitive advantage in aerodynamics, weight, and time savings.
3D printing technology is particularly applied in track cycling. The Italian national cycling team used a Calibry 3D scanner from Russian handheld 3D scanner developer Thor3D to streamline the aerodynamic design of its riders, while sports performance brand Vorteq used an Artec 3D scanner to create custom aerodynamic bodysuits for cyclists from five different Olympic teams.
The British cycling team also rode new track bikes designed by global engineering firms Renishaw, Lotus Engineering, and Hope Technology, which feature lightweight 3D printed end-use parts. In addition, several athletes are expected to wear Adidas' 3D printed optimized running shoes, the Futurecraft STRUNG, which feature an upgraded 3D printed 4DFWD midsole, and 3D printed grips were also installed on the pistol of multiple world shooting champion Céline Goberville.
In addition to archery, 3D printed equipment also appeared in several different events at this year's Olympics. An increasing number of athletes are leveraging this technology to gain a competitive advantage in aerodynamics, weight, and time savings.
3D printing technology is particularly applied in track cycling. The Italian national cycling team used a Calibry 3D scanner from Russian handheld 3D scanner developer Thor3D to streamline the aerodynamic design of its riders, while sports performance brand Vorteq used an Artec 3D scanner to create custom aerodynamic bodysuits for cyclists from five different Olympic teams.
The British cycling team also rode new track bikes designed by global engineering firms Renishaw, Lotus Engineering, and Hope Technology, which feature lightweight 3D printed end-use parts. In addition, several athletes are expected to wear Adidas' 3D printed optimized running shoes, the Futurecraft STRUNG, which feature an upgraded 3D printed 4DFWD midsole, and 3D printed grips were also installed on the pistol of multiple world shooting champion Céline Goberville.
The new Hope Lotus track bike from British Cycling. Photo courtesy of Hope/Lotus British Cycling.
Sports performance brand Vorteq partnered with Artec 3D, a 3D scanner manufacturer from Luxembourg, to create custom aerodynamic cycling suits for riders.
Vorteq combined Artec's Leo 3D scanner, wind tunnel, and engineering technology to design what is claimed to be one of the "world's fastest" cycling suits. Currently, five different athletes are wearing this suit at the Tokyo Olympics, which is designed to be lightweight, breathable, and significantly reduce drag.
Sam Quilter, Metrology Engineer at Vorteq, said: "Our mission is to help serious athletes, many of whom are already at or near their peak, find those 'marginal gains' that, when added together, can truly give an athlete an edge and help them push beyond their limits to ultimately achieve victory. Compared to our previous scanners, the Leo gives us immense flexibility. We can practically carry a 'lab' with us, and this freedom is especially important when you need to go to random locations where conditions are not those of a laboratory."
Vorteq combined Artec's Leo 3D scanner, wind tunnel, and engineering technology to design what is claimed to be one of the "world's fastest" cycling suits. Currently, five different athletes are wearing this suit at the Tokyo Olympics, which is designed to be lightweight, breathable, and significantly reduce drag.
Sam Quilter, Metrology Engineer at Vorteq, said: "Our mission is to help serious athletes, many of whom are already at or near their peak, find those 'marginal gains' that, when added together, can truly give an athlete an edge and help them push beyond their limits to ultimately achieve victory. Compared to our previous scanners, the Leo gives us immense flexibility. We can practically carry a 'lab' with us, and this freedom is especially important when you need to go to random locations where conditions are not those of a laboratory."
Metrology engineer Sam Quilter 3D scanning a rider with an Artec Leo. Image courtesy of Vorteq
Artec 3D Scanning
Artec 3D has been a continuous finalist in the 3D Printing Industry Awards (nominations for this year's awards are still open) – its product line includes the Eva, Space Spider, Leo, and Ray scanners, which can be used for a variety of different purposes.
Artec's scanners have previously been used by Marinebedrijf Koninklijke Marine, a materials and asset maintenance company for the Royal Netherlands Navy, for reverse engineering parts, and by Triebold Paleontology for the digital preservation of a 26-foot-long Stegosaurus at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. The company's scanners have also been applied in the automotive field for vehicle restoration and for full-body 3D scanning of dolphins, sharks, and large sea turtles to create customized tracking tags that provide information on migration patterns and the impact of ocean temperatures.
Artec 3D has been a continuous finalist in the 3D Printing Industry Awards (nominations for this year's awards are still open) – its product line includes the Eva, Space Spider, Leo, and Ray scanners, which can be used for a variety of different purposes.
Artec's scanners have previously been used by Marinebedrijf Koninklijke Marine, a materials and asset maintenance company for the Royal Netherlands Navy, for reverse engineering parts, and by Triebold Paleontology for the digital preservation of a 26-foot-long Stegosaurus at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. The company's scanners have also been applied in the automotive field for vehicle restoration and for full-body 3D scanning of dolphins, sharks, and large sea turtles to create customized tracking tags that provide information on migration patterns and the impact of ocean temperatures.
Artec Leo 3D scanner with Artec Studio software displaying a scan of a rider at the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub. Image courtesy of Vorteq.
Aerodynamic 3D Scanning
In the world of high-performance cycling, speed is everything, and success or failure often comes down to fractions of a second. On the track, cyclists battle against wind resistance and drag with every pedal stroke, and it is reported that up to 90% of a cyclist's energy output is used to overcome air resistance, making its reduction critical.
Vorteq is leveraging the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub's (SSEH) sports-specific wind tunnels and fabric wind tunnels, along with the latest 3D scanning technology, to create custom cycling suits for riders that reduce air resistance while remaining comfortable, lightweight, and breathable.
Artec 3D's Artec Leo handheld scanner is a key element in the design of the cycling suits, digitally capturing the rider's precise anatomy in less than six minutes. The scanner has a built-in touchscreen and a capture rate of 44 frames per second, capable of scanning medium-sized objects, including people, in minutes.
"A rider comes into the wind tunnel with their bike, it's mounted on the rig, they hop on, and in five or six minutes, I can capture two different positions of the rider with accurate, high-resolution color 3D images," says Quilter. "Essentially, that means I'm done with that rider in 10 minutes, and they can go. I have everything I need to design an ergonomically bullet-fast Vorteq suit. No rescan needed, not once."
When producing the bodysuits, Vorteq directly uses the scan data from the Artec Leo, which provides accurate body measurements of the athlete, eliminating inaccuracies and imprecise measurements. The scan results then go through a post-processing workflow in Artec Studio software, where engineers can carefully examine the data and eliminate any rare errors or unnecessary data captures, such as wrinkles. "From the moment an athlete walks in the door, we start scanning with the Leo, then post-process the scans with Artec Studio, followed by 3D modeling in Geomagic Wrap, and finally export the 3D model for suit production. The entire process takes about 2 hours in total, which was absolutely impossible in the past, not even close," Quilter continues. "In terms of the total production time for a suit ready for competition, we currently need 2 days, but that gap is closing, and our goal is a 24-hour turnaround, which we are definitely going to achieve soon."
In the world of high-performance cycling, speed is everything, and success or failure often comes down to fractions of a second. On the track, cyclists battle against wind resistance and drag with every pedal stroke, and it is reported that up to 90% of a cyclist's energy output is used to overcome air resistance, making its reduction critical.
Vorteq is leveraging the Silverstone Sports Engineering Hub's (SSEH) sports-specific wind tunnels and fabric wind tunnels, along with the latest 3D scanning technology, to create custom cycling suits for riders that reduce air resistance while remaining comfortable, lightweight, and breathable.
Artec 3D's Artec Leo handheld scanner is a key element in the design of the cycling suits, digitally capturing the rider's precise anatomy in less than six minutes. The scanner has a built-in touchscreen and a capture rate of 44 frames per second, capable of scanning medium-sized objects, including people, in minutes.
"A rider comes into the wind tunnel with their bike, it's mounted on the rig, they hop on, and in five or six minutes, I can capture two different positions of the rider with accurate, high-resolution color 3D images," says Quilter. "Essentially, that means I'm done with that rider in 10 minutes, and they can go. I have everything I need to design an ergonomically bullet-fast Vorteq suit. No rescan needed, not once."
When producing the bodysuits, Vorteq directly uses the scan data from the Artec Leo, which provides accurate body measurements of the athlete, eliminating inaccuracies and imprecise measurements. The scan results then go through a post-processing workflow in Artec Studio software, where engineers can carefully examine the data and eliminate any rare errors or unnecessary data captures, such as wrinkles. "From the moment an athlete walks in the door, we start scanning with the Leo, then post-process the scans with Artec Studio, followed by 3D modeling in Geomagic Wrap, and finally export the 3D model for suit production. The entire process takes about 2 hours in total, which was absolutely impossible in the past, not even close," Quilter continues. "In terms of the total production time for a suit ready for competition, we currently need 2 days, but that gap is closing, and our goal is a 24-hour turnaround, which we are definitely going to achieve soon."
Design and production of Vorteq bodysuit. Image courtesy of Vorteq.
Utilizing the Artec Leo, Vorteq can also 3D print anatomically accurate athlete mannequins, which can be used to create bodysuits for them without the need for fittings. With the mannequins, Vorteq can customize a bodysuit for an athlete, test multiple fabrics and styles in the wind tunnel, and produce the bodysuit within hours, then ship it to the athlete's doorstep. This process currently takes less than two days, but the company hopes to reduce the time from 3D scan to completion to 24 hours in the future.
"For example, we can wind tunnel test fabric located on only one arm on a full-size mannequin to understand how various fabrics and patterns affect drag reduction," explains Quilter. This is where marginal gains really come into play. Because a real rider in a wind tunnel moves, even slightly, which affects the results. With a real rider, you can never get measurements as precise as with a completely stationary mannequin, where the only variable is the fabric being worn. Previously, Vorteq only worked with Olympic teams and other elite athletes, but since early 2020, the company's custom cycling suits have been available to cyclists of all experience levels, helping them achieve optimal performance.
"For example, we can wind tunnel test fabric located on only one arm on a full-size mannequin to understand how various fabrics and patterns affect drag reduction," explains Quilter. This is where marginal gains really come into play. Because a real rider in a wind tunnel moves, even slightly, which affects the results. With a real rider, you can never get measurements as precise as with a completely stationary mannequin, where the only variable is the fabric being worn. Previously, Vorteq only worked with Olympic teams and other elite athletes, but since early 2020, the company's custom cycling suits have been available to cyclists of all experience levels, helping them achieve optimal performance.
Vorteq mannequin components, ready for assembly and wind tunnel use. Photo courtesy of Vorteq.
How 3D Printing Helps Olympic Performance
Previously, many Olympic athletes have adopted 3D printing technology to create personalized equipment for benefits such as time savings and weight reduction. For example, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce's 3D printed running shoes were showcased at the last Rio Olympics, and Adidas and 3D printer manufacturer Carbon's latest 3D printed 4DFWD midsole is currently being worn by several athletes at this year's Tokyo Olympics.
Previously, the French Cycling Federation had used 3D printing to deploy customized handlebars to improve aerodynamic efficiency, and global engineering firm Renishaw had partnered with Lotus Engineering and Hope Technology to design a new track bike for the British cycling team. Recently, the Italian national cycling team revealed that they used Russian handheld 3D scanners to improve the aerodynamic performance of their bikes ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
Previously, many Olympic athletes have adopted 3D printing technology to create personalized equipment for benefits such as time savings and weight reduction. For example, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce's 3D printed running shoes were showcased at the last Rio Olympics, and Adidas and 3D printer manufacturer Carbon's latest 3D printed 4DFWD midsole is currently being worn by several athletes at this year's Tokyo Olympics.
Previously, the French Cycling Federation had used 3D printing to deploy customized handlebars to improve aerodynamic efficiency, and global engineering firm Renishaw had partnered with Lotus Engineering and Hope Technology to design a new track bike for the British cycling team. Recently, the Italian national cycling team revealed that they used Russian handheld 3D scanners to improve the aerodynamic performance of their bikes ahead of the Tokyo Olympics.
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3DMart offers more than just 3D printing; we provide three major OEM services: "3D printing service," "3D scanning service," and "3D spatial scanning service"!!
Follow our fan pages and don't miss out on new insights:
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