MOTORING NEWS - Jaguar Land Rover has developed a unique 3D-printed dog paw to help engineers assess the durability of future cars - with a little help from Yogi the Labrador and the new Land Rover Defender.
The RoboYogi paw was used to test the rear bumper's ability to withstand a dog's claws scraping the paint before and after dog walks, with results showing it can withstand more than a decade of use by dogs.
This highlights Jaguar and Land Rover's commitment to designing vehicles that meet the demands of owners' lifestyles.
The RoboYogi paw was used to test the rear bumper's ability to withstand a dog's claws. RIGHT: The life-like tech paw.
Paw test
Yogi was tasked with jumping in and out of the new Land Rover Defender boot, with every step recorded by pressure mapping technology. The data allowed the team to benchmark this real-world outdoor scenario against RoboYogi; from how a mid-sized dog clambers in and out, to the pressure applied by the claws and the pads on its feet.
Yogi the Labrador, a resident at the National Guide Dog Breeding Centre, did a lot of jumping to contribute to the design of the test claw.
Nine-year-old Yogi's paw was then used to model and 3D-print a spring-loaded replica, allowing the claws to follow contours and apply pressure evenly across the bumper. Spring-loaded claws also proved a cost-effective solution as they are easily replaceable.
The life-like paw is now used by Jaguar Land Rover to complete a standard 5 000-cycle abrasion test; during which RoboYogi scratches the panel ten times at random, followed by a linear scratch to one side, before repeating the process.
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