Feasibility of measurement-assisted assembly of ship hull blocks

Quality and productivity enhancement of large-scale assembly processes in ship construction can be obtained by introducing measurement-assisted assembly (MAA). MAA consists in using advanced 3D measurement systems to enable direct, fast and sometimes even automatic part-to-part assembly without iteration. This experimental research project aims to develop, demonstrate and evaluate the MAA concept for the assembly of hull blocks of medium- and large-sized vessels. An indoor GPS (iGPS) and a robotic total station are used as measurement systems. Experiments have been carried out to evaluate aspects related to metrological performance, functionality and robustness of the measurement systems. An automatic MAA process was simulated with a Stewart Platform. The results indicate that MAA is generally applicable to the assembly of ship hulls and that both iGPS and robotic total station are suitable measurement systems for this application. The advantages and drawbacks of both systems are discussed.