NVision Helps Hamar Build Perfect-Fit Roof Racks Faster

Intro: Faster Design Through Smarter Measurement

At Hamar Industries, designing custom roof racks for a wide range of cars and off-road vehicles—including the Toyota Tacoma, Tundra, and 4Runner—just got faster and more efficient, thanks to NVision Inc.'s advanced 3D laser scanning and modeling services.

Based in Fort Worth, Texas, Hamar Industries is a one-stop shop for aftermarket vehicle accessories and custom metal fabrication, offering laser cutting, bending, welding, and more. One of the company’s top specialties is producing roof racks that precisely conform to each vehicle’s roof profile. Because each rack must be durable, lightweight, and wind-resistant, accurate measurements of roof contours and mounting locations are critical to achieving the right fit.

By leveraging NVision’s state-of-the-art scanning and 3D modeling technology to create exact digital replicas of vehicle roofs, Hamar Industries designed three new roof rack product lines in one-third the usual time—accelerating product development and increasing time-to-market by 200%.

Precision Fit: The Foundation of Every Great Roof Rack 

Roof racks are essential for anyone needing extra storage space for outdoor adventures or work gear. They provide a secure way to transport cargo or recreational equipment while keeping the interior free for passengers and other items.

Because every vehicle roof has unique shapes and features, achieving a perfect fit is crucial. Accurate measurements are required to match complex contours and avoid interference with components such as sunroofs, rear hatches, or windshield wipers.

“To get a perfect fit, it’s necessary to determine the precise geometry of the vehicle’s roof and any possible interferences,” says Chris Pelley, Hamar’s Vice President of Operations and Engineering. “The contour of the roof and the location of all mounting points are critical for great fitment and easy installation. We also need to avoid conflicts with factory accessories or features like sunroofs, windshield wipers, rear hatches, and doors.”

So how can you measure the complex contours of different vehicle roofs efficiently and with high accuracy? The answer lies in 3D scanning.

3D Scanning: A Game-Changer for Perfect Fitment 

Hamar Industries first considered 3D scanning while developing custom roof racks for three Toyota models—the Tacoma, Tundra, and 4Runner. To capture precise roof data, Hamar partnered with NVision, a leader in 3D scanning and reverse engineering with over 30 years of experience serving the automotive and transportation industries. NVision’s past projects include the rapid design and reverse engineering of motorcycles, automobiles, trucks, trailers, and other transportation products.

NVision engineers performed the scanning onsite at Hamar Industries, focusing on the vehicles' roofs down to the tops of the windows. Over four business days, they scanned three vehicles—the 2017 Toyota Tacoma, 2015 Toyota Tundra, and 2018 Toyota 4Runner—using NVision’s own HandHeld Scanner. “NVision was very professional and responsive to changes and our scheduling needs. They were a pleasure to work with,” says Pelley.

The HandHeld Scanner captures 60,000 separate spatial measurements, or “points,” per second with an accuracy of ±0.025 mm (25 microns)—roughly one-thousandth of an inch. (For comparison, a human hair is about 70 microns thick.) This makes it ideal for capturing the intricate spatial geometry of vehicle roofs.

As the laser sweeps the vehicle’s surface, it generates a “point cloud” of millions of points, each with x, y, z coordinates. Every point represents a precise location on the roof’s surface. The resulting point cloud defines the roof’s shape and dimensions with an accuracy that surpasses other measurement technologies.

NVision engineers performed four scans per roof—driver’s side front and rear, passenger’s side front and rear—then cleaned and aligned (“stitched”) the data to create a composite point cloud for each vehicle using reference spheres.

Once scanning was complete, NVision converted the raw point cloud into STL files, which served as templates for creating computer-aided design (CAD) models. These models were delivered in IGES and STEP formats, compatible with all major CAD software.

Hamar imported the files into its in-house CAD software to verify form, fit, and function. “The 3D scans NVision provided were high-quality and absolutely essential to getting our racks to market faster,” says Pelley. “Having the quality scans import seamlessly into our in-house design software made testing very easy and very fast.”

Conclusion: From Concept to Roof Rack—at Record Speed 

NVision’s 3D scanning and CAD modeling technology helped Hamar Industries produce precisely fitted roof racks for each vehicle model—in a fraction of the usual time.

“NVision provided us with the 3D CAD models we needed to launch three product lines,” Pelley concludes. “The 3D scans they produced were high quality and paid for themselves through time saved in the R&D process.”

You could say—though only if you enjoy bad puns—that NVision and Hamar Industries have both racked up another success.

For more information about NVision’s 3D scanning/measurement and reverse engineering services, contact NVision, Inc., 577 Commerce Street, Suite 100, Southlake, TX 76092. Tel: 817.416.8006, Fax: 817.416.8008, Email: sales@nvision3d.com , Web: http://www.nvision3d.com.

About NVision

NVision, Inc. (www.nvision3d.com) was established in 1990 with one goal in mind: to provide customers with the highest accuracy non-contact optical measurement services for Reverse Engineering and Inspection. NVision provides complete reverse engineering, encompassing 3D scanning/measurement, CAD modeling, 2D drawings, materials analysis, and metallurgy capabilities. We deliver a complete solution that ensures top-to-bottom replication accuracy.

Focusing our expertise on the aerospace, power generation, and oil/gas industries, NVision provides exceptional contract scanning and reverse engineering services to companies throughout North America. With a plethora of the latest scanning tools and materials analysis equipment, our elite team of engineers provides customers with an unmatchable level of experience and is able to advise and assist with the most difficult engineering challenges.

NVision's clients include industry leaders such as Boeing, GE, Lockheed, Lear, NASA, Porsche, Raytheon, Siemens, Toyota, and every branch of the U.S. military. Our work has been featured in Quality magazine, Packaging Technology Today, Moldmaking Technology , Digital Engineering, 3D Printing Industry , Today's Medical Developments, Machine Design , Design & Development Today, and many other leading publications.