Case Study: Ricoh achieves cooler camera housing and 24-hour thermal performance with nTop

Ricoh improves camera heat dissipation by 24% with nTopology

Ricoh, a large Japan-based company in the consumer products industry, sought to improve the heat dissipation of its THETA 360° camera so it could operate continuously in high-heat environments for factory monitoring. Their challenge was to redesign the camera's housing to act as a more effective heat exchanger and prevent safety shutdowns, aiming to manufacture the new part with their own aluminum binder jetting technology. They partnered with nTopology and used its advanced design software to accomplish this.

Using nTopology's implicit modeling capabilities, Ricoh designed a complex gyroid lattice structure for the camera cover that significantly improved heat transfer paths. This solution, which was printable with Ricoh's binder jetting process, resulted in the camera running 24% cooler and achieving over 24 hours of continuous use without shutting down. nTopology's software enabled rapid design and testing of multiple complex geometries, saving a great deal of time compared to conventional CAD software.

Ricoh