SITUATION
Rugged Ridge Front Floor Mat CAD
This client is the premier manufacturer of Jeep replacement, restoration and accessory products, including the Rugged Ridge accessory line of floor mats. Currently, Jeep floor mats are either “carpet,” thermoformed rubber that fits the car, or “deep” all-weather flat floor mats that are not formed to fit.
The client wanted to combine the advantages of both types of mats to create OEM-quality mats that are both formed to the vehicle and deep. However, they needed help in both capturing the exact cab floor geometry and in incorporating their design ideas into a manufacturable CAD model to create tooling for the new floor mats.
SOLUTION
Rear Floor Mat CAD Data to Fit to Scan Data
The client contacted our company for a complete design and reverse engineering solution. Our team scanned the front and back floor areas of a 2-door and a 4-door door Rugged Ridge Jeep Wrangler to make sure any variances in size and shape were discovered. Our engineers used the Konica Minolta VIVID 9i laser scanner attached to a jib arm to maneuver around in the constrained area of the Jeeps’ cabs.
Multiple design cycles were required to design mats for tooling. Eventually, the Rugged Ridge logo and a floor hook were digitally incorporated into the mat design. Rapidform, used to offset patterns from the scan data, was extremely helpful because it gave designers the ability to draw straight lines smoothly and to accurately trim/design. Our team was able to create a very precise and tight-fitting class B surface that was directly importable into SolidWorks and enabled the offset into a very smooth, ideal class A surface.
RESULTS
Floor Mats Manufactured
The innovative design of this new type of floor mat is a first in the industry for any vehicle, not just for the Jeep brand. This patent-pending product, designed by the client’s engineering team with help from our engineers, was exhibited at SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) 2008 in Las Vegas, which drew the industry’s brightest minds and hottest products to two million square feet of exhibits. The floor mats were nominated as a finalist in the “best new interior product” category for the entire show.
“We are very appreciative of the valuable services you provided in the development process which allowed us to bring this product to life.” – Matt, Dir. of Engineering