As one of the most time and cost-effective ways to capture the as-is condition of a vessel, DotProduct’s 3D scanning tools provide shipyards and designers with a way to perform maintenance, repair, and refit work easier than ever before.
Choosing the Right Reality Capture Solution
If as-built drawings or an as-built model exists, that can be used as a starting point for the digital twin and MRO activities, but more often than not, an accurate view will need to be captured even when an as-built is present. When reality capture technology is seamlessly combined with the other elements of the digital twin, it’s easy to validate the design, identify missing information and to identify clashes when designing refit solution.
The realities of ships and shipbuilding mean the right reality capture solution needs work within the geometrically complex and often close-quarters environments on board a vessel. Plus, any captured 3D data needs to be delivered from the field back to the design office or shipyard as quickly as possible.
Once back in the office, that 3D point cloud data must seamlessly integrate with the design and engineering tools that are already in place and augment any existing product model. If the point cloud information is successfully aligned in the field, that further speeds up any modification design work.
DotProduct and SSI joint successes
Ship Architects, Inc.
Ship Architects, Inc. of Mobile, Alabama was commissioned to design modifications to the steel girders on which the engines are mounted to allow the installation of six isolation mounts for each of the engines. DotProduct was engaged in providing as-built capture services using its handheld 3D scanning solutions to inform the design, and the team’s goal was to complete the scanning of the engine girders before the vessel was scheduled to get underway. They were able to complete the scan in less than two hours.
Ship Architects was able to import the scan data to SSI ShipConstructor and start design work using the exported data files the next day without the need for post-processing. The starting point for the design was a set of 2D drawings which were used by Ship Architects to model the new girders and frames. Using the scan data directly in ShipConstructor made it easy to identify interferences for the new isolation mounts in the scan data including the location of a fuel filtration system, cooling system piping, and other piping elements.
Read the full case study on DotProduct
KD Marine Design
The complexity of modern ships means that there are many thousands of individual parts in even a small project. KD Marine realized that reality capture technology could be a powerful tool in ensuring that the as-built vessel matched the digital twin. Using a combination of DotProduct 3D scanners and SSI solutions, KD Marine:
- Captured the as-built space of a recently constructed ship.
- Imported the resulting point cloud into ShipExplorer.
- Compared the scanned data with the finalized design from ShipConstructor.
- Identified a number of missing brackets.
- Reported the discrepancy to the shipyard.
Innovations in Shipbuilding with DotProduct and SSI
See Brian’s thoughts on the latest innovations in shipbuilding and the industry’s future from his perspective. SSI’s Shipbuilding Solution Evangelist Greg Goulanian had a chance to sit down with him at our booth at the International WorkBoat show in New Orleans this past November.
SSI World Shipbuilding Conference Sponsor
DotProduct is a proud sponsor of SSI and the World Shipbuilding Conference. See how DotProduct supports shipbuilders and their community.
