Zollner Electronik AG engineers design the world’s largest robot using SIMULIA’s multibody simulation software.
Medieval folklore stretches the imagination and sends us to a magical realm unlike any other. From orcs and trolls to elves and giants, human-like species make this unearthly world weirdly compelling. But the one creature of the genre that remains the most iconic—instilling fear, wonder and excitement into everyone—has to be the dragon.
“The software lets us know what works and what doesn’t, without the need for extensive field testing. If a design flaw is found, it also shows us exactly where and why the problem is occurring, making it easier for us to fix.”
Imagine an “animal” five stories tall, standing above you, its scales seemingly rock solid and teeth razor sharp. You look up at its beautiful 40-foot wingspan in amazement and back down at its enormous feet in terror—knowing this beast, weighing over 10 tons, can squish you like a bug. Its head rests at ground level so it can see your every move—close enough that you can feel the hot steam from every breath it takes. Then it steps forward, lifts its head high, opens its mouth, and unleashes bursts of flames across the sky.
Bringing Fantasy to Life
Such an encounter is something most folklore fans can only dream of. Of course dragons don’t exist, but can one be made? Zollner Electronik AG engineers have proven it is possible by creating the world’s largest, fully-functional mechatronic dragon—coming to life every year at the ancient German folk festival, Further Drachenstich. During the event, the 50-foot fire-breathing beast walks among people who come from all over who come to celebrate in the Bavarian Forest. Called Tradinno—an homage to both tradition and innovation—the 11-ton animatronic robot is scarily real.
Currently listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the “world’s largest robot” since 2014, Tradinno is powered by a 100kW Diesel engine—where 50 closed-loop controlled axes are moved by carbon fiber laminated (CFK) hydraulic cylinders.At 15.5 m in length, 4.5 m in height and with a 12 m wingspan, Tradinno moves up to 0.5 km/hr and assumes several preprogrammed positions during the show.
Such an impressive machine was obviously extremely challenging to design. The biggest hurdle for the team at Zollner stemmed from Tradinno’s large mass, paired with the high number of degrees of freedom in individual components and the resulting play of varying dynamic forces on them.
To support the motion of each component and minimize their individual and combined effects on the entire robot, Simpack from Dassault Systèmes’ SIMULIA was used throughout the design process. Simpack multi-body simulation software enabled the engineers at Zollner to generate and solve 3D models that successfully predicted and visualized motion, coupling forces, and stresses on a flexible mechatronic system.
“Simpack made us confident that our finished design would work,” says Frank Pfeffer, mechanical engineer at Zollner Electronik AG. “Without the tool, it would be near impossible to ensure that the finished dragon would operate as flawlessly as it does.”
Stay tuned for the next installment of this blog series, “Creating a Monster with Simpack: The Saga Continues,” where Zollner talks about the assembling of the dragon and how they used simulation to bring it to life.
