US NSWCCD-SSES engineers develop laser metrology equipment

The US Naval Surface Warfare Center Carderock Division – Ship Systems Engineering Station (NSWCCD-SSES) engineers’ have developed a new three-dimensional laser metrology equipment, capable of scanning vessels for potential upgrades.

Engineers recently completed scanning of a US Coast Guard Cutter using metrology with laser-based measurements to generate a 3D representation of an object by determining coordinates and points in a space.

In order to create 3D models, immersive virtual environments, prototypes, simulations, and historical records, the NSWCCD-SSES is also using the laser metrology equipment to scan naval ships and submarines to determine future upgrades to equipment and design structure.

NSWCCD-SSES’ Sail Systems Hull, Mechanical and Electrical Engineering Branch engineer Pinkesh Bharatia said, "These tools allow engineers to see what someone aboard a ship or submarine would see without having to physically be there."

"And those scans can help us design new components, alleviate in-service issues, ensure parts fit properly, and even explore what the next generation of ship and submarine designs will look like today," Bharatia added.

Developed as a part of NSWCCD-SSES’ new Machinery Research and Engineering Department’s Modeling and Simulation Lab, the new metrology equipment’s 3D scans are expected to provide a way to interactively explore virtual ship environments, once the reconfigurable Computer Aided Virtual Environment re-opens later in 2012.

NSWCCD-SSES’ Advanced Machinery Systems Integration Branch branch manager Tim Klingensmith said, "With enough data, virtual environments could be modeled rapidly with the ability to be fully immersive and interactive for the purposes of training and validating concept designs."

Prior to performing maintenance, modernisation or technology upgrades, the overall cost of assessing machinery spaces and systems can be reduced by exploring shipboard environment virtually.