Virtual Ship

To improve the development and acceptance of new maritime propulsion technologies, the Virtual Ship department develops innovative methods and solutions for the modelling, simulation, validation, optimisation and visualisation of complex ship systems. By managing and utilising information generated over the product life cycle of a ship, these solutions are synergistically integrated into applications of holistic digital twins. System simulations are linked with operating data of the physical product and continuously recalibrated in order to make reliable predictions about the operating behaviour using the latest knowledge and thus optimise it. Such solutions are then extended to assess risks, uncertainties and the economic and emissions-related feasibility and efficiency of innovative maritime energy systems in design and operation.

In order to test the concepts and methods quickly and easily, to further develop them in an agile manner and to demonstrate their results in a tangible way, remote-controlled ship models are designed, equipped with sensors and actuators and linked with digital twins. Based on the resulting operating data and findings, aspects of their scalability and transferability from the model scale to the large scale of real ships, such as the DLR research vessel, are also being investigated.