Autoship Systems Corporation (ASC) of Vancouver, Canada is pleased to announce that a New Zealand based user, Coastdesign Naval Architecture, has won the 2013, ‘Minister of Defence Award of Excellence for the provision of Excellent Equipment to Defence’ in conjunction with New Zealand’s NSR Boatbuilders. The principal of the company, Mr. Alan Walker, has been the ASC Dealer for this region for over 20 years and has used the Autoship System software to complete this sophisticated marine engineering project.
The contract was for the design and build of two Navy 9.2m rapid-deployment vessels with a 2.7m width and 2.6m height restriction, and with the added constraint of having to fit onboard a C-130 Hercules aircraft. Using Autoship (hull design), Autohydro (hydrostatics and stability) and Autostructure (internal structural design) programs, Mr. Walker was able to meet all design, performance and classification targets.
After going through several monohull design iterations using Autoship, and using Autohydro to check on the stability of the vessel’s 1m crane reach (lifting 250kg over the side of the vessel), it was decided that a catamaran hull would be a better approach. The final design was a ‘sea-sled’ type hull with a tunnel dictated by the required hull volume.
“I’m never one to back away from the most difficult of design projects because I use CAD/CAM design software that allows for quick and updated versions of previous work.” says Mr. Walker. “Using, Autostructure, I was able to keep track of expected loads, weights and balances. The usual design cycle was more than a little complex, however, over 12 months I developed a workable solution”.
The Autoship System was the first integrated CAD/CAM system to be built around the Windows operating system and, from its beginnings, utilized the Graphical User Interface potential of Windows. The Autoship System is under continuous improvement to meet the exacting requirements of Navy, commercial and yacht design.
For over 30 years, ASC has been producing first class software design solutions for naval architects and marine engineers around the world. ASC has also been providing load planning systems and loading instruments to the marine shipping industry.
