Inventor Of The Month for August 2008 helps design airplane to keep wildfires under control

Wipaire used Autodesk Inventor software to design the water-scooping pontoons of the FIRE BOSS, a fire-suppression plane that provides a versatile tool in the fight against wildfires.

Autodesk, a manufacturer of design innovation technologies, announces Wipaire, Inc. as the Autodesk Inventor of the Month for August 2008.

Wipaire, a manufacturer of aircraft floats and pontoons, used Autodesk Inventor software to design the water-scooping pontoons of the FIRE BOSS, a fire-suppression plane that provides a versatile tool in the fight against wildfires, helping minimize the ecological and environmental damage they cause.

The Inventor of the Month program recognizes the most innovative design and engineering advancements made by the extensive community using Autodesk Inventor software—the foundation of the Autodesk solution for Digital Prototyping.

A digital prototype is a realistic 3D digital simulation of the entire end product, used to virtually optimize and validate a product before it is built to reduce the necessity of constructing physical prototypes.

Like a traditional air tanker plane, the FIRE BOSS is able to carry retardant from a tanker base to the fire. What sets it apart, however, is that it can remain on-site, scooping water from nearby lakes and rivers, until other tankers return with more retardant.

Wipaire created a unique hull design and scooping system that more effectively scoops up water and pushes it up into the hopper of the airplane for storage.

Although this type of fire-suppression aircraft has been around for decades, Wipaire improved on several aspects of the underlying technology. Most notably, Wipaire created a unique hull design and scooping system that more effectively scoops up water and pushes it up into the hopper of the airplane for storage.

This design innovation reduces the amount of time it takes the hopper to fill with water—an important trait when time is of the essence.

Digital Prototyping Speeds Development
Autodesk Inventor 3D modeling software played a key role in making FIRE BOSS floats a reality. Inventor software’s sheet metal functionality and finite element analysis (FEA) analysis capabilities helped Wipaire to visualize, simulate and analyze its scooping system before anything was built, generating a working prototype in just two months.

Inventor software’s sheet metal functionality and finite element analysis (FEA) analysis capabilities helped Wipaire to visualize, simulate and analyze its scooping system before anything was built

“We completed all our designs in Inventor,” says Chuck Wiplinger, chief engineer at Wipaire. “As a result, when we laser-cut parts, we knew that they would all fit when we put them together because we’d already analyzed the motion of the assembly. Autodesk Productstream further increased our productivity by serving as the pipeline between different workgroups in our Digital Prototyping workflow, allowing us to easily manage our design data, and readily handle engineering change orders and version control.”

Autodesk Inventor Helps Wipaire Meet Demand
This combination of Digital Prototyping technologies has enabled Wipaire to shave an average of 200 hours off its production time for a FIRE BOSS—allowing the company to increase how quickly its gets the product into the hands of the firefighting teams that need it.

Wipaire to shave an average of 200 hours off its production time for a FIRE BOSS.

The FIRE BOSS currently has more than 20 units in operation with various agencies in the European Union and North America.

“Digital Prototyping has helped Wipaire meet the demand for innovative new firefighting tools by evolving its product in less time and with less costs,” says Robert “Buzz” Kross, senior vice president of Autodesk Manufacturing Solutions. “Their innovation is responsible for enhancing public safety and helping to protect natural environments across the globe. It is a pleasure to name Wipaire as our Inventor of the Month for August.”

Each month, Autodesk selects an Inventor of the Month from the more than 800,000 users of Autodesk Inventor software, the foundation for Digital Prototyping. Winners are chosen for engineering excellence and groundbreaking innovation. For more information about Autodesk Inventor of the Month, contact IOM@autodesk.com.

For additional information, visit www.wipaire.com and www.autodesk.com