Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Behind the Scenes Tour of the Metroboard Slim Electric Longboard and Outrunner Manufacturing Process

We are now working hard building our preorders for the New Metroboard Slim Electric Longboard and Outrunner Series.  We wanted to share some behind the scenes pictures of how these new products are made.

CNC Machined Translucent Riser Pads

Below you can see us making a batch of CNC Machined Translucent Riser Pads which house both our IR wireless receiver and our new high power 1 Watt LEDs.  The risers are cut from 5/8″ thick Polypropylene sheet, which creates a very cool glowing effect when illuminated.  We do this work in-house!
CNC Machined Translucent Riser Pads
CNC Machined Translucent Riser Pads

Below you can see the Fully Assembled Translucent Riser Pad with IR Wireless Receiver and two high power 1 Watt LEDs
Translucent Riser Pad Assembly
Translucent Riser Pad Assembly

Motor Bracket to Truck Welding Fixture

We designed brand new welding fixtures to precisely position the motor bracket on the truck during the welding process.  These fixtures ensure that the motor bracket is held perpendicular to the truck axle, and also enable us to adjust the rotational angle of the motor bracket (bringing the bracket either closer to the deck or to the ground).
Below you will see the first version of our fixture which was 3D printed (in-house) to check form and fit before going through the laborious process of machining the fixture out of thick aluminum blocks.
3D Printed Motor Bracket to Truck Welding Fixture
3D Printed Motor Bracket to Truck Welding Fixture

After qualifying the 3D printed version, we machined production versions of the welding fixtures as shown below.  There are two versions of the fixture.  One for Reverse Kingpin Caliber Trucks, and one for Standard Caliber Trucks.
Welding Fixtures
Welding Fixtures

We also need a longer truck axle on one side of the rear truck to accommodate the extra width of the drive pulley on the drive wheel, so we end up machining away a portion of the aluminum casting on the truck hanger to expose more of the axle.
Machined Truck Hangers
Machined Truck Hangers

Below you can see the Caliber Reverse Kingpin truck mounted in the welding fixture along with the motor bracket.
Reverse Kingpin Truck Welding Fixture
Reverse Kingpin Truck Welding Fixture

Below you can see the Caliber Standard Truck mounted in the welding fixture along with the motor bracket.
Standard Truck Welding Fixture
Standard Truck Welding Fixture

Slim Battery Box Assembly

Below you can see the assembly of the Slim Aluminum Battery Box, which houses our new Slim 20 mile range Lithium Battery, Motor Controller Electronics, Power Switch, Charging Jack, and Piezo Buzzer. Due to the tight space constraints, wire routing is very challenging, but we are refining the manufacturing process to make it as smooth as possible.
Slim Battery Box Assembly
Slim Battery Box Assembly

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