Delcam’s PowerSHAPE cuts design times by up to 80% at Trike Ícaros

Adopting computer-aided design with Delcam’s PowerSHAPE software has allowed Luiz Delfino Favero, owner of a flying-trike company in Sao Paolo called Trike Ícaros, to reduce his design times for each model by up to 80%. The software has also helped to give increased consistency in production, making it possible for the company to meet the stricter standards imposed by Brazil’s National Agency of Civil Aviation following a number of accidents with amateur-built models.

Mr. Favero was still a boy when he saw a Delta Wing on television for the very first time. That was the beginning of a passion that continued for over 20 years. As he grew older, married and had his two children, he began to feel guilty about not being able to involve his family in his hobby. He decided to develop a motorised Delta Wing with a second seat. After some years, he received news that a French team had produced his dream and given it the name "Trike”. Mr. Favero was able to adapt this design to produce a model for himself. Soon after, he began to create more designs for his close friends and colleagues, until he was able to transform his hobby into a successful business.

The initial reason for looking into computer-aided design was mainly the pressure imposed by the new standards, in particular a requirement to submit formal designs for approval. "Two years ago, all our Trike models were designed by hand, using paper and ink. That had been my way of working for more than 18 years,” said Mr. Favero. "It met my needs, but not those of the standards.” After visiting Delcam’s representative in Brazil, Seacam, at an exhibition, he could see many other improvements and benefits that he could add to his business. Not least of these was the reverse engineering service offered by Seacam based on Delcam’s CopyCAD Pro software. This would enable the designs of existing parts to be captured for future use in refurbishment or in creating new models.

When asked why he had chosen the Delcam software, Mr. Favero was absolutely clear: "I needed software for complex shapes and the only one that could produce exactly what I wanted was PowerSHAPE.” The support given by the Seacam team was another important factor. "We get quick answers to any questions, whenever we need them,” he commented. "We have built up a good relationship.”

With the use of the Delcam software, the designs reached a level of precision never achieved before. In addition, "the time we save has brought gains to all areas of the company,” according to Mr. Favero.

One extra benefit has been in the creation of operation, maintenance and parts manuals, which are also required by the new standards. Trike Ícaros can now prepare its documentation with greater speed, precision and quality, including operation manuals, with pictures rendered in PowerSHAPE, and maintenance and parts manuals with exploded diagrams. The quality of the illustrations now in the manuals means that anyone, whether an expert or a beginner, is able to understand all the instructions for assembly and use with relative ease.