Project Overview
The Navier boat is a cutting-edge electric hydrofoiling boat that is well-known for its advanced technology and sustainabilitiy features. Hydrofoiling means that the boat has wings — or "foils" — beneath the hull that lift the boat out of the water as it gains speed, significantly reducing drag.
In this project, we focused on maintaining the "hydrofoil" idea while incorporating a sonar that for detecting basic topography and fish underwater. We utilized Solidworks, Ansys Fluent, and various manufacturing methods to fabricate, assemble, and test our prototype.
At the end of the project, we successfully prototyped a sonar flange, fairing for the sonar.
My Contributions
I contributed on the design of the sonar fairing, design verification/validation, getting precise measurements on the chartplotter from the sonar, and refining designs/simulations.
Solidworks
After a series of literature and design review, I modeled a hydrodynamic sonar fairing that would have a viable drag coefficient of 0.04 (standard for streamlined body), referenced from the Eppler 862 strut airfoil (e862-il).
Ansys Fluent
Throughout the design process, I was mainly responsible for validating the designs, making sure they were feasible for manufacturing / real-life applications. I created a custom boundary condition that'd be suitable for the ocean-like environment. For the sonar flange and fairing, I validated the 2D/3D designs, respectively, and received accurate drag force/coefficient per iteration. I learned how to create a custom moving mesh that could emualate deformation, but that was not relevant to our project.
Chatplotter / Fishfinder + Sonar
After validating and manufacturing the parts, I worked on working with the chartplotter and sonar, accessing the depth chart and ensuring our sonar was detected on the digitial screen.
