CAD-Based Automated USV Hull Design

The unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) market is continuously growing due to the ever-increasing demand. Moreover, USVs are sophisticated products with a challenging design process. In this work, a CAD-based application is being presented that is able to automate the design process of a USV hull. Particularly, it is possible to either design a single piece or a batch of hull forms. The purpose of the batch design is to provide the user with a variety of test-pieces for comparing the most important geometric characteristics (buoyant volume and center of mass). By utilizing the methods that are available in the application programming interface (API) of SolidWorks™, the developed application can accept inputs in the form of a spreadsheet file, in order to automatically build a number of forms. The procedure is carried out according to variables that are used in the industry, such as the deadrise angles and the planning surface widths.