When I saw this helmet the first time, it blew my mind! It’s more of a conversation piece than most people’s scooters… the perfect amalgamation of high strength A7n01-T6 aluminum alloy, kick ass CNC machining technology and “beat THAT!” badassmanship. Though, after running this through the mental physics engine a few times, the practicality seems to have fallen out the window on this one. It’s really just a show piece from Japan’s powerhouse prototyping company, Daishin Seiki, to celebrate their 50th Anniversary. The aluminum cheek pads were the first giveaway that this was not intended for actual road use… that and the thought of the heat transfer you’d get from this baby sliding down the pavement. I imagine that your standard, spontaneous highway dismount would result in a fracture that would split the helmet into a 3 or 4 pieces as it unraveled from your delicate skull. Still… a BEAUTIFUL piece of machine work! Bravo Daishin Seiki Corporation!
NOW then, do you wanna see the “beat THIS!” badassmanship in action? Of course, we don’t have video of the COUNTLESS hours spent rendering this bad boy, but we DO have video of the hyperMILL app controlling a Gildemeister DMU60 Duoblock machine as it puts the tool to it! (Casey… wipe the drool off yer chin) Did you know that JUST a CAD mock-up of the DMU60 costs $1,500! I can’t imagine how much the actual machine costs. (anybody?)
20. March 2010 at 9:15 pm
120kg of high grade aluminum block, I wonder how much that solid block of aluminum would cost?
20. March 2010 at 9:20 pm
The helmet is lovely display piece, but can you imagine being able to knock off scooter parts like custom engine blocks and cylinder heads with the push of a button? (A very expensive button push… *sigh*)
21. March 2010 at 6:03 pm
Ohmagosh! Hehe, I’ve actually seen these vids already but thanks for thinkin’ of me Steve.
Oh, and a block of 7000 series aluminum that large would easily be two or three paychecks!
22. March 2010 at 12:18 am
Yeah Casey, I figured that you saw that CAD pr0n the day it came out.
Oh, AndroidCat! I hear that some cities are starting up inventor’s labs, complete with prototyping machines. Lemme dig through my NPR collection and see if I can find something to share.