DLBA COMMERCIAL NEWS
Project Success: VT Advanced Towing Carriage
July 2, 2022
DLBA, in partnership with Edinburgh Designs, recently modernized the towing carriage system for Virginia Tech’s (VT) ship model basin. Trade studies for the carriage upgrade started in 2019, and in the spring of 2022 term VT students used the new carriage for lab experiments. DLBA’s team is excited to bring this project to a successful completion!
This lab equipment upgrade is a big leap forward for VT’s academic and research capabilities. The pre-existing carriage was designed and built by Kempf & Remmers of Hamburg, Germany in 1963. It was driven by a single 400VDC drive motor powered by an onboard 3-phase motor generator, and the operator’s panel featured vacuum tube control circuits. The old carriage achieved a top speed of 3 m/s with a max acceleration of 0.7 m/s2.
Courtesy: Kempf & Remmers
Courtesy: Kempf & Remmers
The new carriage is custom designed for VT’s model basin, with the following performance specs:
- > Top speed of 7 m/sec
- > Acceleration of 5 m/sec2 (0.5g)
- > Powered by two servo motors (480VAC, 3-phase) with margin for 150 kg payload and 1000 N tow drag
- > Computer controls
- > Multi-layered safety protections
This new carriage allows VT to conduct planning and slamming model experiments, which were not possible with the previous carriage.
Courtesy: DLBA
Courtesy: DLBA
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