CAD AM14U Aluminium Belly-Pan
 

So I'm very new to the whole world of CAD as my main role in supporting my team was programming and since going to college I've come to realize the importance of CAD. My teams have been known to use really heavy lexan plates as belly-pans and this year I want to get a aluminim belly pan much like the ones seen below. Yes in the end the goal is to have wiring like that, and I think this style bellypan will make that very achievable.

I want to make this bellypan for the long configuration AM14U kit chassis, does anyone out there in the community have the time to help me create the CAD so I can get this thing fabricated?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/rqnwpjmhjk...%20chassis.jpg

Re: CAD AM14U Aluminium Belly-Pan
 

What CAD software do you intend to use? How are you fabricating it? (waterjet?)

Sidenote question for anyone that knows - what are those connections attached to the battery? They look more flexible and solid than the standard shrinkwrap most teams use.

Re: CAD AM14U Aluminium Belly-Pan
 

We're making ours out of laser-cut plywood. Anyway, there have been several threads about making bellypans recently:
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...um+belly+p an
http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/sh...um+belly+p an

Re: CAD AM14U Aluminium Belly-Pan
 

That's odd, I searched belly pan before making the thread and those didn't come up. I'm using Autodesk Inventor 2013 Professional.

It can be lazer-cut or water-jetted. I have access to both.

Re: CAD AM14U Aluminium Belly-Pan
 

Start by sketching up what you want on paper. Make the outline of what you want in CAD. Make a cut-extrude pattern through the piece in what ever pattern you desire (we used hexagons). Make extrudes back into the part for the positions of your parts. If you ziptie your parts (saves weight) your holes don't need to be to precise. If you plan to bolt/rivet, make sure they are exact or very close. Once you're done with that, you should be able to export a drawing and get it cut.

Re: CAD AM14U Aluminium Belly-Pan
 

So we finally got around to taking care of it. It is designed for the AM14U Kit-Base in long configuration.

Picture:
http://www.garnetsquadron.com/Pictures/BellyPAN.png

(.STP File):
http://www.garnetsquadron.com/Documents/Belly_Pan.step
(Right click this link and click save URL as to not have it open as a text file.)

Re: CAD AM14U Aluminium Belly-Pan
 

Looks nice and the spiderweb pattern in the middle is pretty cool. Have you included mounting points for electronic parts etc?

Re: CAD AM14U Aluminium Belly-Pan
 

We aren't going to have pre-drilled holes for the elec components. The electrical team head has some interesting idea about how he is going to guide the wire and mount the components. I'll ask him if he'd post here about what he's going to do. I know he had input on the width of the lattice pattern, but he's not too CAD oriented himself.

Re: CAD AM14U Aluminium Belly-Pan
 

What you have looks thick enough to had drill holes in. We use a thinner pattern, which is really good for zip ties. The majority of the parts have custom profiled mounting points.