UMaine 3D Prints a Full Sized Boat

3D Printed Military Submersible

Engineers in ORNL made military’s first 3D-printed 30 feet long submersible hull made from carbon fiber composite material.
The Optionally Manned Technology Demonstrator is a prototype vessel that could be used to deploy divers, logistics capabilities, and sensors. It was made much cheaper and faster when compared with traditional manufacturing methods.

We don't need more weapons guys. We need more technology for permanent peace.





Source news release with more information:

https://energy.gov/eere/articles/navy-partnership-goes-new-depths-first-3d-printed-submersible

DIY Open Source 3D Printable Submersible Glider Drone

Alex Williams developed and built this sophisticated open source submersible glider drone. 3D printed elements are the main components.


Project description:

There has been a breakthrough with low cost autonomous drones and as this capability has matured a wide range of hobby and commercial applications have developed. There are no affordable extended duration underwater exploration platforms and this project aims to address this need. 

Utilising commodity hardware, 3D printed parts and an open-source autopilot, I aim to produce a low cost and versatile underwater glider capable of extended missions of up to weeks at a time. I hope that by having this platform available, it would reduce the cost of underwater projects for all, from hobbyists, amateur scientists to seafood farmers

Video of mechanical motion, buoyancy drive, and central mass movement assembly:





Underwater testing of the glider in a pond:




Project Hackaday.io page with all the details:

https://hackaday.io/project/20458-open-source-underwater-glider

Big Benchy RC Boat

You like making the 3DBenchy? Now you will like it even more with this project! Kim developed a larger version that can float and has an RC control for a small electric motor. It is 3d printed from several modules and held together with ABS-juice which also makes it watertight.


Video with build log and RC Benchy in action:




Here is the full construction guide:

http://www.instructables.com/id/RC-Boat-3DBenchy/

Thingiverse page:

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2388765

3D Printed Molds for Concrete Frame Canoe

Project description:

A research team from ETH Zurich used 3D-printed moulds to make the skeletal framework for this all-concrete boat, which won first prize for design innovation at the Concrete Canoe Regatta.

The boat race takes place every other year on the Rhine river in Cologne, Germany. It challenges participants to create the lightest and fastest vessel, and race it 200 metres without sinking. The competition allows no other material than concrete to be used.
For their SkelETHon canoe, the team from ETH Zurich relied on research that allowed them to fabricate large-scale concrete building components, casting concrete in any shape using 3D-printed moulds.

"With 3D printing we have an almost unlimited geometrical freedom for making formworks, which was not available to concrete so far," said the team's Andrei Jipa. "Undercuts, microstructures, high-resolution details are now possible."
The moulds are made from recyclable plastic, and allowed the team to cast slender "bones" – some of which measured just 15 millimetres in diameter – from steel fibre-reinforced concrete.

Source post with more information:

https://www.dezeen.com/2017/06/27/eth-zurich-team-designs-all-concrete-skelethon-canoe-slender-3d-printed-bones/

3d printed RC boats are lot of fun!

This looks like sooooo much fun! Am I right or am I right?

Maersk wants to 3d print replacement parts on their ships to reduce cost

Maersk is huge shipping and industrial conglomerate from Denmark. It has been the largest container ship operator and supply vessel operator in the world since 1996.

When they say that they want to use 3d printing aboard their fleet vessels to make replacement parts, you know it is serious.
This is a major announcement by a gigantic company and we will probably hear more about it in the future.
If they are interested, other companies will follow their lead also.

Ocean crossing transport ships and other facilities like oil rigs are incredibly complex and sensitive to mechanical failures. When you think of thousands and thousands of replacement parts needed in the middle of the sea you can get the idea how a ship based 3d printer could be extremely useful and practical. Human lives are often in danger due critical infrastructure failure and also in repair operations. Just to get needed part by helicopter or smaller boat is cost and risk in itself. When you would consider time and fuel savings in the case of Maers, we are probably speaking of millions of dollars range on yearly basis.

There is some irony in the fact that 3d printing technology will maybe drastically reduce the need for global shipping so the Maersk could loose profits in their container transport operations.
We live in interesting times.