Autodesk News

YSA Design is close to completing what it believes is the first ever ship construction project to bring together everything from initial sketches to the sign-off tasks for utilities completion under one Building Information Modelling (BIM) process.The project, for an undisclosed cruise owner, saw the Oslo-based designer using the 3D tool across the conception and execution of a complete ship newbuilding. BIM has become a significant part of land-based architecture in Norway, with its use now mandatory for those bidding for government projects…

Lloyd’s Register and Lloyd’s Register Foundation support the development of the world’s first 3D printed rescue boat.Lloyd’s Register (LR) is partnering with Singapore’s National Additive Manufacturing Innovation Cluster (NAMIC), Autodesk, ST Engineering's Electronic sector and AML3D to launch a global design competition offering a first prize of S$30,000 (c£17,500) to the winner of the best innovative design idea for a 3D printed rescue boat hull. This will be the first ever…

ABS software supports designs across most vessel sectors. This pilot project focused on tug and barge designs, producing promising results.Jensen Maritime, the naval architecture and marine engineering arm of Crowley Maritime Corp, and ABS have completed a precedent-setting pilot project using three-dimensional computer-aided design (CAD) models to support plan reviews for class approval.In what is believed to be an industry first, the innovative pilot was not proprietary to specific brands of CAD software, allowing designers to use the versions with which they are most familiar, or those that are best suited to the design project.Saving Time and MoneyIn eliminating the need to create 2D drawings to submit for the class design-review process…

SSI CEO Darren Larkins, together with President & CTO Denis Morais, acquired ownership of the shipbuilding software development company from founder Rolf Oetter effective March 1, 2018. The two longtime employees have been managing SSI for the past seven years and have been entrenched in all aspects of the company’s day-to-day operations for even longer. Larkins, SSI’s fifth employee in 1999, said that through the years he and Morais have done “pretty much everything that SSI does at some point.” He added…

Victaulic’s collaboration with SSI’s Autodesk ShipConstructor promises a streamlined design process, easier access to Victaulic piping specifications and proof positive that marrying hardware data and existing design technology can save time, money, weight and headaches for boat designers and shipyards alike.Is Victaulic’s time-tested turnkey approach to pipe joining right for you? That depends on a lot of things, but if better design options and a measurable benchmark of Total Installed Cost Savings would benefit your bottom line, then you’ve got nothing to lose and everything to gain by trying. And now, Victaulic’s catalog content inclusion in SSI’s ShipConstructor software gives naval architects and shipyards the convenient ability to ask…

Dutch fishing company Ekofish Group has contracted Damen Maaskant Shipyards Stellendam to build a new twin-rig fishing trawler, specially designed to support eco-friendly fishing. Vripack will be using SSI’s ShipConstructor software for design and engineering work on the vessel. Vripack has brought the quality of its yacht design experience to the design of its first twin-rigger fishing vessel. Using a holistic approach, Vripack closely collaborated with both Ekofish and Maaskant Shipyards to create a practical, yet innovative design.

The world’s first Class approved 3D printed ship’s propeller, the WAAMpeller, has been unveiled following rigorous testing verified by Bureau Veritas at Damen Shipyard Group’s headquarters in the Netherlands. The groundbreaking propeller is the result of collaboration between RAMLAB, Promarin, Autodesk, Bureau Veritas and Damen, who started pooling collective resources and knowledge to develop the world’s first 3D printed ship’s propeller seven months ago. Promarin provided the design of the triple-blade propeller.

A prototype of the world’s first class approved ship’s propeller manufactured using 3D printing techniques has been produced by a cooperative consortium of companies that includes Damen Shipyards Group, Rotterdam Additive Manufacturing LAB (RAMLAB), Promarin, Autodesk and Bureau Veritas. The 1,350mm diameter propeller – named WAAMpeller – was fabricated from a Nickel Aluminium Bronze (NAB) alloy at RAMLAB in the Port of Rotterdam. The propeller was produced with the Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM) method using a Valk welding system and Autodesk software.

A consortium of organizations are working toward a landmark achievement in the maritime sectors: creating the world's first class-approved 3D-printed ship's propeller. As many sectors of the shipbuilding industry suffer due to overcapacity, it is this type of innovative leap that will -- if successful -- separate the next generation of leaders in the sector. In the effort a cooperative consortium of Damen Shipyards Group, RAMLAB, Promarin, Autodesk and Bureau Veritas aim to develop the world’s first class approved 3D printed ship’s propeller, dubbed WAAMpeller.

The ANZAC Class is a ship class of 10 frigates: eight operated by the Royal Australian Navy and two operated by the Royal New Zealand Navy (RNZN). They have an overall length of 118 meters and a displacement of around 3,800 tons. In 2014, New Zealand ordered extensive modernizations to its frigates’ core combat and related systems. This would require the integration of the Lockheed Martin CMS 330, integrated with radar improvements, MBDA’s independently-guided Sea Ceptor missiles and an extensive array of other modern equipment.

The last barrier to robotic shipbuilding has just fallen. What comes next will be truly exciting. It wasn’t too long ago that SSI and Wolf Robotics demonstrated some co-development which automatically drove a fully autonomous welding robot to weld several ship panels. SSI develops Autodesk based solutions for the shipbuilding and offshore industry including ShipConstructor software, an AutoCAD based CAD/CAM product line; and EnterprisePlatform, a tool for sharing product data model information. For its part, Wolf Robotics has been integrating robotic welding and cutting systems since 1978. The collaboration was part of a National Shipbuilding Research Program (NSRP) Computer Aided Robotics Welding (CAR-W) project with U.S. shipyards.

NAPA and Tech Soft 3D have announced that NAPA Drafting software has been developed using the AutoCAD OEM platform from Autodesk. This allows NAPA Drafting to deliver the market standard in 2D drawing functionality automatically from NAPA 3D databases, enhancing productivity for yards and speeding compliance processes. NAPA Drafting is also able to automatically generate rich 2D section drawings from the 3D NAPA ship model created in NAPA Steel. The tool can easily and quickly extract the data from the in-progress…

SSI CEO Darren Larkins continues to consult with shipbuilders around the globe on how to leverage 3D Product Data Models using Autodesk technology. His next presentation on 3D Product Data Models will be October 22 at the shipbuilding and offshore show KORMARINE in Busan. Larkins will demonstrate the shortcomings of traditional methods such as using drawings, Excel files and supplementary 3D viewers, and will highlight how a better approach utilizes neutral formats and platformization. For more than 13 years Larkins has met with shipbuilders around the world, developing an understanding of industry challenges and global best practices.

The way in which users will be able to buy and access Autodesk software is changing. To help users better understand these changes and their implications, software developer SSI will host a webinar October 13. Starting January 31 users will no longer be able to purchase new perpetual licenses of individual products, and beginning July 31 users will no longer be able to purchase new perpetual licenses of both standalone and network licenses of Autodesk Design & Creation Suites. The new mandatory Autodesk Desktop Subscription model can provide flexibility and cost savings when requirements are uncertain from month to month. However, any kind of demand certainty for the foreseeable future can enable savings by potentially stocking up on perpetual licenses.

"Intuitive Weld Management" and "Innovative methods for leveraging a 3D model" are two of the white papers that representatives from CAD/CAM developer SSI will present this week at the 17th International Conference on Computer Applications in Shipbuilding (ICCAS) in Bremen, Germany. According to SSI, the papers showcase innovative techniques and implementations of cutting edge software technology with real-world applicability for addressing challenges in today's shipbuilding industry. Tracking and managing welds through all stages of shipbuilding is usually a disconnected, inefficient, laborious and error-prone process. The solution…

SSI announced it will host the Autodesk Bulgaria Shipbuilding Seminar for shipbuilders, naval architects and marine engineers to learn about the challenges facing the shipbuilding industry in Bulgaria and find out how Autodesk's Extended Digital Prototyping solutions, (including ShipConstructor software) can be used to help during the complete shipbuilding workflow. This includes software solutions for bid proposal; conceptual design; hull design and analysis, hull structure; simulation (upfront simulation and verification of existing design); CFD; mechanical; P&ID, HVAC and routing system; outfitting and equipment; existing data re-usage; new data creation; shipyard planning and optimizations; visualization; manufacturing drawings and publications; and web and mobile apps.

SSI's newly released version of its Autodesk based ShipConstructor CAD/CAM software, ShipConstructor 2016, provides 27 new features and 104 enhancements including important new functionality to easily and intuitively reuse work. This includes intelligent copy and paste features, multiple document interface capability, the ability to copy BOMs and many other modernization and productivity enhancements. Many of these improvements, such as new bevel stands for curved plates as well as increased security and convenience for working in situations outside of a network…

In collaboration with Autodesk, SSI's dealer in the Benelux, CADMatch, has organized CADMatch Maritime Day for April 16, 2015 in Oosterhout, NB. The day’s theme will be "Engineering: the foundation for success."    According to the organizers, CADMatch Maritime Day aims to exhibit ways to achieve greater efficiency with strong engineering from a project’s beginning. Various guest speakers, including several clients, will recount experiences from the field. Speakers from SSI and Autodesk will also show how "Digital Shipbuilding Solutions" can help achieve success.

Holland Shipyards has selected SSI's ShipConstructor software for its new shipbuilding activities. Holland Shipyard undertakes newbuilding, repair and conversion of small and medium-sized vessels. Florian den Besten, Naval Architect with Holland Shipyards, explained his company's thinking when purchasing new CAD/CAM software. He said, "First of all, the system is user-friendly as ShipConstructor is AutoCAD based and contains all features needed by our architects. Secondly, the architects appreciate the ease of making 2D drawings with the MarineDrafting application of the ShipConstructor Hull Structure Premium Suite. The 2D drawings are used for workshop and classification drawings. The simplification of the technical drawings, by using appropriate symbols, makes them clear and readable.

The speakers representing various companies at next week's SSI Americas ShipConstructor User Conference, October 7-9, 2014 in Mobile, Alabama, demonstrate SSI's philosophy of creating software solutions for the shipbuilding industry that integrate with best of breed applications, the company said. SSI executives will highlight the competitive advantages avalable with the implementation of recently released products such as EnterpisePlatform, MarineDrafting, Electrical, PipeLink, WeldManagement and PipeSupports. In the workshops SSI technical staff will provide particular focus on hands-on workflows, best practices and maximizing the efficient use and benefits of the tools.

Ship Constructor, Military pose some challenges. Madrid’s Sener Ingeniería y Sistemas S.A. (Sener) is hoping to regain a foothold via its FORAN CAD/CAM software in the North American market, and to use that opening to crack the Big Six military shipyards, landing at least one lucrative long-term contract. But first, it’s going to have get past its chief competition on these shores, Vancouver-based SSI’s ShipConstructor software, CATIA from Dassault Systèmes of France, and Nupas-Cadmatic, jointly owned by Numeriek Centrum Groningen B.V. of the Netherlands and Cadmatic Oy of Finland.

In the continuing quest to harvest efficient, renewable energy from the power of the world’s tides, an organization called Sustainable Marine Energy’s announced that its PLAT-O tidal energy platform has successfully completed its first field trials. Despite the tremendous power and predictability of the world’s waves and tides, efforts to successfully build and bring to market a device to harness, store and transmit power in an efficient manner have been largely unsuccessful in the commercial sense.

A major determinant of shipbuilding productivity is clear communication. The SSI's ShipConstructor 2015 R2 distinguishes this with modified improvements focused on how information is conveyed. SSI continues to make advancements in regard to how ShipConstructor facilitates the modeling and management of welding. Welding can represent 20-30% of production hours and approximately 10% of total cost. Therefore, improvements in this area have immediate bottom line implications. ShipConstructor 2015 R2 further facilitates communication…