EnCata delivered mechanical engineering and prototyping services for an academic inventor and helped prove the truck variator’s frictionless transmission principle. In just 5 months, our team moved the project from a raw idea to a tested prototype that demonstrated technical feasibility.
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An inventor from Academia approached EnCata with his patented idea of a new type of variable frictionless transmission which would enable high torque with a “no-clutch” design.
The variator prototype did not exist and our team had to design a proof-of-concept / proof-of-technology demonstrator prototype. This required performing numerous calculations and kinematic simulations and all-custom parts design.
We qualified the technology readiness for this “no-clutch variator” as TRL-2 and started to redesign the transmission in an effort to validate the inventor’s research and refine the concept.
Upon preparing the detailed CAD for manufacturing, we realized that the suggested design would not function in a prototype and wouldn’t demonstrate the intended principle. Since the motivation behind the project was to produce a real scale working proof-of-principle prototype, we suggested redesigning the variator.
We thus scrapped the customer’s initial 3D model and started from scratch to redesign the transmission. The project followed the standard ‘EnCata project flow‘, whereby we developed a new technical concept and ran a series of kinematic simulations and calculations to create the new CAD 3D model.
When finished with the technical concept and the new preliminary CAD, the engineering team produced the documentation for prototype manufacturing.
Manufacturing precision gears of the variator required significant CNC milling, EDM erosion, and annealing. The entire manufacturing process took EnCata 4 weeks, including assembly.
Upon completing the manufactured prototype, we conducted tests and updated the 2D drawing and the BOM. This brought the variator project to the TRL-4 level and proved the initial concept of the frictionless transmission design.
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During this project, EnCata invented a number of patentable features which were all transferred to the customer. (This is standard EnCata policy: all the intellectual work created during the project belongs to our clients).
This development enabled the client to approach the automotive industry companies which were seeking new types of reliable variable transmissions.
Overall, the customer was very satisfied with EnCata’s comprehensive service.
filed after EnCata’s work
designed and manufactured for the variator
achieved with new design
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