LONDON: It might seem a minor bugbear, but Jaguar Land Rover says many owners use their Defender to transport dogs, and the left-behind scratches are an unsightly annoyance.
That's why engineers at the company have come up with a way to imitate how dogs scratch the shiny paint surfaces of the rugged off-roader.
With the help of a real dog and lots of algorithms, they created a high-tech, 3D-printed paw to test the long-term endurance of a car.
The data came from a Labrador called Yogi which was was tasked with jumping in and out of the Land Rover Defender's cargo space while brushing past the side-hinged door.
Each step was recorded by pressure mapping technology and Yogi's paw was used to model and 3D-print a spring-loaded replica, allowing the claws to follow contours and apply pressure evenly across the bumper.
The spring-loaded claws also proved a cost-effective solution as they are easily replaceable - unlike Yogi's.
Results showed the car's bumper can withstand more than a decade of scratching by dogs, said the maker.
The life-like paw is now used by the company to complete a standard 5,000 cycle abrasion test during which robotic paw scratches a panel at random 10 times followed by a linear scratch to one side, before repeating the process.
Robot paw helps stop Land Rovers going to the dogs
By dpa | 17 December 2019
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