The second generation of autonomous surface vessels: Optimized performance for AUVs assistance at Sea

Abstract

The next generation of Autonomous Surface Vessels (ASV) will be optimized for optimum performance at sea. The design of an innovative unconventional SWATH-ASV family, patented by the author and under further investigation at the MIT innovative Ship design lab is described in its main features. The new unconventional design of the hull is the key to superior resistance, powering and seakeeping performance. The achievement of these excellent results is a direct consequence of the extensive use of new computational fluid dynamic tools integrated into full parametric geometry optimization methods. The main modeling capabilities of these numerical methods are presented. As a result, the new ASV-SWATH is able to demand 20% to 40% less propulsion power than conventional catamarans at high speeds and it is subject to significantly lower motions in waves: 50% less heave and 60% pitch in a wide range of incoming wave frequencies. The new ASV platform is the ideal, yet missing, element to realize a true persistent and portable network of AUVs at sea. The characteristics of onboard systems for AUV launching/recovering and wireless recharging are finally discussed and their feasibility assessed in the light of the seakeeping predictions performed both for the AUV and the ASV in the same sea state

Use of the geospatial technologies and its implications in the maritime transport and logistics

“…Degree four: Fully autonomous ship: The operating system of the ship is able to make decisions and determine actions by itself." [9] Literature on autonomous vessels presents various type of prototypes with various degrees of autonomy (older prototypes tend to be less autonomous and newer prototypes tend to be fully autonomous) [10][11][12][13][14][15][16]. One study [17] reviews many prototypes and projects developed by scholars or private companies (60 prototypes of unmanned vessels are listed and classified by the degree of autonomy).…”

A Rapid Parametric Modeling Method of SWATH Based on Siemens NX Extended Development

“…For SWATH, considering both the performances and processing technology, the shipform design should try to make the shape of the submersible regular [7] . Therefore, this paper is aimed at the submersible with circular sections.…”

“…Wang et al realized parametric modeling of the subbody and pillar profiles by using NURBS [3] . Brizzolara et al chose the 3 largest diameter positions of the submarine as parameters and fitted SWATH ship lines by the 8 th order polynomial, when they were studying the hydrodynamic characteristics of SWATH [6,7] . However, the models generated by these methods are difficult to be integrated with other optimization and computing software and these methods can not provide the original model quickly for subsequent calculation and optimization.…”