Mouser Electronics is teaming up with Local Motors and celebrity engineer Grant Imahara to build a vehicle cockpit for 3D-printed autonomous vehicles. The concept’s winning design includes a rear-mounted drone for a bird’s eye view.
The build will focus on reimagining the interior of the Local Motors Strati, the world’s first 3D-printed vehicle. Features of this build will combine electronic components from Mouser’s valued manufacturer partners and Platinum Sponsors of the series, Maxim and Murata.
The design, created by Finn Younkers of Rhode Island, features a drone mounted on the rear of the vehicle that, when launched, gives the driver an unprecedented birds-eye-view of the surroundings. Younkers’ design was chosen as the winner of the Local Motors Challenge.
A third generation designer, Finn Yonkers brings 20 years of design experience to his clients. he began his career teaching design and visualization at Pratt Institute’s Industrial Design Department and has extended his portfolio to include automotive, exhibit, graphic multimedia and interactive design.
“Local Motors already had most of the technology to make the autonomous vehicle figured out. This project was about taking it to the next level,” said Grant Imahara “To do this we called on the imaginations of engineers all across the world. Mouser’s Empowering Innovation Together program and vast array of parts enabled this, so it was a great partnership to bring our shared vision to life.”
In addition to the platinum sponsors Maxim and Murata, gold sponsors Lumileds and Phoenix Contact made the build possible.
Grant Imahara toured the Local Motors’ plant to see how the 3D printed car works.
With its broad product line and unsurpassed customer service, Mouser caters to design engineers and buyers by delivering What’s Next in advanced technologies. Mouser offers customers 22 global support locations and stocks the world’s widest selection of the latest semiconductors and electronic components for the newest design projects. Mouser Electronics’ website is updated daily and searches more than 10 million products to locate over 4 million orderable part numbers available for easy online purchase.
Mouser Electronics, a subsidiary of TTI, Inc., is part of Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway family of companies.
Well known in the engineering community, Grant Imahara played roles on Mythbusters and BattleBots. He is the inventor behind many famous robotic characters, including the Star Wars prequel-era R2-D2, talking robot sidekick Geoff Peterson from The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, and the rhythmic arms on the modern-day Energizer Bunny.
Local Motors is a technology company that designs, builds and sells vehicles. By combining co-creation with local micro-manufacturing, we are creating a better world through hardware