Northrop Grumman uses virtual reality technology to design the next generation of aircraft carriers

The US Navy's next-generation aircraft carrier CVN 21 has new features, changes in design, and will operate more efficiently with fewer staffing.

When the CVN 21 is in service in late 2015, it will be equipped with an electromagnetic aircraft ejection system, a new configuration of the "island" superstructure that has moved to the rear of the aircraft carrier, three aircraft lifts, an improved weapon handling system, and the bed on the aircraft carrier will be Less than 4,600 sheets.

Mike Shawcross, vice president of Northrop Grumman's CVN 21 program, said in a telephone interview with Daily Defense that a more significant change in CVN 21 is not visible from the shore, that is, it is the first An aircraft carrier designed entirely in a virtual environment.

The virtual model allows one to think about how best to assemble the aircraft carrier, especially the system area, for example, where to place the pipe, how to build the lower deck before the upper deck is installed, and so on.

Shawcross compares the product model and the Computer Aided Virtual Environment (CAVE) to a holographic camera that uses CAVE in the room to project images onto all walls, floors and ceilings to create a virtual environment. At the Newport News shipyard, designers use a system to project a three-dimensional image onto the screen. Shawcross says the image is very realistic, and people can walk somewhere and reach out to “touch” the valve. This design approach also helps builders understand ergonomics.

Shawcross believes that computer-aided design tools have proven cost-saving. For example, the CATIA provided by Dassault and IBM in France helps designers to identify all the problems and errors in the design beforehand, which of course saves money.

He said: "This is very useful in many aspects, the processing accuracy of the parts will be higher, we have seen this effect on the 'Sea Wolf' and 'Virginia' class submarines, it can also make us better Planning, can provide processing data, such as issuing bending instructions to the bender or issuing instructions to the steel plate cutter."

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