How we made the new helmet for Tadej Pogacar

[00:00:06]What's up, guys? We're here at Met headquarters in Italy.

[00:00:09]>> [music] >> Today, we're going to do outside testing and have a discussion with the R&D team about the production of the new Met Drone number three.

[00:00:20]>> [music] [music] >> Well, here at the Met R&D, we have the approach of the virtual modeling as we had occasion to talk about the process to validate the structure, so the mechanical part and to reach the mandatory certification, so the safety, the proven safety of the product. We start from sketches. From that point, we go straight on into virtual modeling, so 3D modeling in the CAD system. There, we add all the ideas starting from the sketches into new solutions, potential shape development, and that is producing the product that is able to pass the certification. Starting from that point, we go in the specific case of aerodynamic performances, we go in the optimization of the fluid flow analysis and the validation of the shape. Let's just say the alter ego of the calculation made for impact testing is done for fluid flow analysis. Call it CFD. The CFD allows to predict the drag of a product, so we can really put into the model the helmet, the athlete, so ideally we can put a a scan of you, your bike, and make a calculation of different shapes of the product to understand which is the best trend in term of aerodynamic performances.

[00:01:57]>> First of all, what is CFD?

[00:01:59]>> CFD is a computational fluid dynamics and allow us to predict the aerodynamic performance of objects by measuring their drag and also give us the possibility to visualize the airstream to understand the physics behind the phenomena. So, it allow us to see what cannot be seen in a wind tunnel and better understand where to change geometry to reduce the drag basically.

[00:02:28]>> So, if you have CFD, why do you need a wind tunnel?

[00:02:31]>> Because CFD is numerical and is not real life. Moreover, each athlete has a different position. They are moving. So, we need then the real life testing in the velodrome or in the wind tunnel to validate the model and to understand if what we are simulating is correct.

[00:02:50]>> You had a really good product with the drone number two. Still to this day, one of the best helmets on the market. How did you use the CFD analysis to create drone number three?

[00:03:00]>> Yeah, basically starting from a product that is an A level one, we started testing a lot of different geometries to understand in which way we could have improved the that version. You can see here some of the option we tested. The main breakthrough was the addition of a flap in front of the helmet. That was allowed us to induce an outwash effect.

[00:03:24]Basically, we moved the air away from the arms. What they did in the Formula 1 a couple of years ago, moving the air away from the front wheels to reduce the drag and we replicated the same let's say physics with addition of a flap in front of the visor. So, basically we combined the wide body geometry that characterized the the drone number two. So, instead of only covering the collarbone, now we are able to to shield the arms and uh this feature allowed us to reduce the drag with a considerable amount.

[00:04:02]We tested in velodrome and the wind tunnel and we saw a reduction in terms of what that is not negligible.

[00:04:11]>> Mhm.

[00:04:12]>> That's the main the main feature of of this element.

[00:04:16]>> Wow. That that that that's actually really cool to see that because, you know, basically I'm I'm testing the product.

[00:04:23]I'm using the product. I I don't see >> Yeah.

[00:04:26]>> Well, after that, we go straight on creating prototypes that can be 3D printed protos or hybrid protos coming from a mix of existing parts and 3D printed parts. This is allowing to start the last important stage of the product development that is the real-life testing. As you experience it, we do wind tunnel testing or we do as well velodrome testing or even road cycling testing in case the proto is more at an advanced level. This is allowing to validate the geometry shaping and the CFD data and finalize the product to start tooling and then having the real product on hand.

[00:05:13]>> So, here we are outside.

[00:05:16]We're going to do some real-world testing with the new helmet. We have the the prototype here.

[00:05:22]And then we're going to mount an arrow sensor and then see if we can find some trends in aerodynamics with, you know, real life winds and and all that stuff while also giving some feedback on how the helmet actually feels riding outside. So, the next many hours I'm just going to do tons of runs with the drone two and the drone drone three and then we compare the data um from all the runs and then we can see trends like you can't see direct numbers like being in a in a wind tunnel uh but you can see trends over time over runs and then you can compare the trends. And the advantage of this stuff is the fact that we can see like how the helmet actually performs in real life. So, obviously there's a huge difference in uh riding in the wind tunnel where the wind comes from either zero or you know 60° uh while here we have wind gusts, we have all kinds of stuff, road you have to navigate as well, you have all kinds of stuff impacting the actual feel and the performance of the helmet. So, that's really important also for future developments and um in understanding how the helmet actually performs on the head in real life situations.

[00:06:38]>> [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] [music] >> Today we do some uh road testing with Daniel with the aim to have another validation of the CFD and so the product development, the prototyping, uh the early testing we did first in the wind tunnel with Daniel a while ago and here is even more real life. We are we're on the road. So, we are making a simulation of uh the performance. So, collecting the data, comparing uh the old product against the new product, make somehow the validation of the process of development we did from virtual to wind tunnel. That's the target for today.

[00:08:08]>> [music] >> In this picture, we have the virtual model of the helmet applied on different bodies. In the light blue, we have the scan of uh Mikkel Bjerg and uh you see here the overall shape is much bigger than the pink color uh mannequin that is the scan of Elisa Longo Borghini from ADQ uh team. What we did in the simulation of this CFD analysis is uh uh defining a shape that could be efficient in both cases. So, we have somehow two different extreme cases that needed to be solved having the same kind of geometry, same kind of feature, of course. Then, there is the scaling in the size for the head circumference that is making the small, the medium, and the large uh for the product. But, the uh features for the CFD analysis, so the kind of a uh solution, geometric solution for catching better drag, is the same applied to different bodies. So, from here, uh the condition that I see it is a kind of a transversal use with optimal results.

[00:09:43]>> What's up, guys? It's been a long day of testing, a long day of working.

[00:09:49]Um it's been a killer day, though. Uh we've got a whole bunch of runs in, um way more than I I hoped for. Um the guys at at Mips were really happy and surprised with the feedback. So, um I think we've come really far with the new helmet. I'm really excited to to race with the helmet. I'm really excited to use it again.

[00:10:13]Um and I think it's a huge upgrade from the from the Drone 2. So, I am stoked, and I'm really proud to be to be working with a brand that is um you know, making such high-quality products, and uh and be a vital part and feel like I'm a vital part in the process of of creating equipment not only for for me and you guys, but also for, you know, Tadej Pogačar, because he's one of my biggest idols at the moment in the sport. So, um I think um I'm just I'm really happy. I'm proud. I am satisfied. I am um I'm stoked and really motivated. Keep calm. Strike hard.

[00:10:56]Ciao ciao.