Local Motors: Crowdsourcing Automotive Engineering Competition

Media has been obsessed with the ongoing saga and competition between the electric car start-ups such as Tesla and Fisker Automotive. There's many others, too. For instance, VentureBeat has chronicled 30 different electric car companies.

The automotive industry is shambles and are start-ups beginning to take over.

Yes, these companies are impressive. But, what do you get when you take it to an even higher level? Can a car be crowdsourced?

So far, the answer is yes. And we've already explained how Local Motors plans to crowdsource the design of a car. But, have they been able to make their mark?

The start-up that originally stemmed from a Harvard Business School competition is already on to the next phase by using competitions to crowdsource engineering. But first, lets take a look at what they've been able to produce using the crowdsourced approach. Below are some of the designs for the final product.  And then we'll take a look at the next stage.

Rally Fighter, Designed by Sangho Kim, with the Local Motors Community

Did we mention you can reserve and buy a Rally Fighter?

The location of the first Local Motors Micro-Factory, and the home of the Rally Fighter, will be announced soon.

The Rally Fighter interior features exposed mechanicals and simple elements for cost effective production.

Now that the exterior and interior design are finished, they're on to a variety of other engineering challenges for producing various parts of the car - solved all through crowdsourcing by use of competitions. Their first one will be for the light bar and appropriately named the "Rally Fighter Light Bar" competition, and opened today for submissions.

Here is a description from their website:

Welcome to the first-ever Engineering Competition at Local Motors.

This is a CAD based engineering competition for everyone with experience in CAD software (SolidWorks, CATIA, etc.).

This Roof Mounted Light Bar Competition is only the first engineering challenge, and it is an important one for both aesthetic and function. The winning design will be built and brought to life, featured prominently on the limited Rally Fighter Race Edition. The Local Motors community will vote to choose the winner. If you are the winner, your name will be featured on the light bar as a badge of honor, you will win $500, and a Solidworks seat provided by R&D Technologies.

For this competition, the required Rally Fighter chassis data is available for download and can be found in the Ignition Kit. Chassis data is necessary for two reasons. One, it gives you Rally Fighter dimensions to work with; this is a competition to design an accessory to fit the Rally Fighter, keep this in mind. Two, it is the first step in our effort to make the chassis data fully open to the public. By doing this we are giving everyone the chance to develop and build parts for the Rally Fighter. We are striving for a completely open chassis and open-sourced parts and accessories developed by the community.

By inviting you, the community, to participate in the development of the Rally Fighter and accessories, we are aiming to ensure the end products are desirable. You wouldn't design a Light Bar you don't like, and the community certainly will not vote for one they don't want. What you want matters, so we hope you will participate.

Local Motors is literally making history on several different levels; leveraging open source models on a complex product, proving that crowdsourcing can be applied to engineering projects, and inspiring a new way of actually building cars and all sorts of different products in various industries while changing the dynamics of the automotive industry.

The goal is to design a highly attractive end product by enabling the community to choose its direction. But, in the process they're enleashing what is becoming one of the most powerful collaboration models. Amongst other things, it shows that people are motivated by more than just money. They're motivated by their own inspiration to create, to build alongside others, and to be a part of something that can absolutely turn out to be spectacular. After all, what could be more interesting than engineering through a global community talent? But more importantly, allowing the people who most want to do the job, to actually do that job and work without being hindered by a corporate shadow that's been stuck in a prehistoric automotive industry.

Co-founder and CEO, Jay Rogers, explains:

"Crowdsourcing is a powerful thing. Open, collaborative development is more fun for our community than private non-inclusive. This method ensures that our community and customers are excited about the end product because they get to vote and choose the winning design.

There are not very many companies who make chassis data available, or develop vehicles openly. The Rally Fighter has become a learning experience, and a reason for car enthusiasts to come together and have fun while competing in incremental challenges. There are always cash awards, but the bigger prize is seeing your name on the finished vehicle. The winner of the Rally Fighter Light Bar Competition will get their name put right on the Light Bar."

Here is more info on the contest:

What: Rally Fighter Light Bar Competition

When:
Start Date: Wed July 8, 2009 00:00am EST (-4 UTC)
Submission Deadline: Mon July 20, 2009 23:59pm EST (-4 UTC)

Where: www.local-motors.com Register, then go to the Submit page to enter.
Competition Details: http://www.local-motors.com/competition.php?c=14

Prize:
1.) $500 for the community-voted winner.
2.) Solidworks Software seat provided by R&D Technologies
3.) Winner's name on the production Light Bar.