Dry Dock Block Contact Indicator

Ship building and maintenance is an industry stretching back centuries. Throughout its history, the fundamental practice of drydocking has remained constant. Drydocking is the process of removing a vessel out of the water to enable access to the hull.  This is a long, tedious process that requires a high degree of precision. Given that the blocks are uniquely contoured to the shape of each vessel’s hull, US Navy standard operating procedures call for the ship to be aligned with respect to these blocks within 3 inches transversely and 3 inches longitudinally. However, despite this high level of precision, those same standard operating procedures ask that ship alignment be verified through visual confirmation from underwater divers. This introduces the risk of human error to a drydocking operation while also making it difficult to make minor corrective adjustments. 

DM Consulting’s (the sponsor) goal for this project is to develop an engineering solution that can provide real time feedback on ship positioning during a drydocking operation by integrating sensors, mechanical properties, and automated alignment systems. This system would monitor the ship’s lateral and vertical alignment in real-time and provide accurate positioning data, eliminating the need for human intervention underwater. By doing so, it would significantly reduce safety risks, improve docking precision, and enhance the overall efficiency of the drydocking process. 

Requirements

There are several key requirements that must be met for the design solution to be considered functional. They are as follows:

• Survive underwater at 30 feet for 8 hours

• Deal with keel sizes of 0.5-36 inches and different keel shapes

• ±0.5 inches of accuracy

• Constructed with off the shelf parts

• Portable

• Hold calibration with power off