Here at 3D Rapid Print, one of the fastest growing 3D Printing companies in the Thames Valley, we like to keep abreast of the latest innovations in 3D printing.
On July 1st 2022, manufacturing network Hubs of Amsterdam spoke of helping maritime technology company Smart-Ship of Delft develop a partly 3D printed, haptic feedback-based ship navigation system. (Amsterdam and Delft are both in the Netherlands.) Smart-Ship was founded in 2018 by brothers Brent and Roy Kok. During his time as a university student, Roy was developing force feedback technology controls for ships as part of his master’s thesis, focusing on vessels that could travel at speeds of 40-50 knots through high waves. (40-50 knots is roughly 46-58mph or 74-93km/h.)
Roy’s thesis supposed that haptic feedback was a safer and more intuitive way to communicate information to marines and ship operators, such that it could be used to advise safer speeds based on the ship’s speed and data on incoming waves. After Smart-Ship discovered that installing its technology directly onto marine vessels would involve what Hubs described as “jumping through countless regulatory hoops,” Smart-Ship decided to integrate it into maritime training simulators in the meantime.
Smart-Ship turned to Hubs to manufacturer its system’s components with the necessary precision, while also making them sufficiently comfortable to operate over prolonged seafaring journeys or simulations of them. Ultimately, Hubs relied on a combination of SLS 3D printing and CNC milling and turning to manufacture Smart-Ship’s system. For further work, Smart-Ship intends to collaborate with Hubs to scale up production, with the aim of selling its system directly to shipping companies, while also producing integrated training modules with its system’s software.
3D printing is an amazing tool. It can grow your small business or start a mini revolution in an industry. Explore what it can do for you when you contact us today.
Disclaimer: Featured image of “USS Bear (AG-29) in Antartica c1934” is a work of a sailor or employee of the U.S. Navy, taken or made as part of that person’s official duties. As a work of the U.S. federal government, it is in the public domain in the United States.
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