A 3D Yacht and a Tenderlift Sea Platform
About the Project
Development of a hydraulic lifting platform, installed at the stern of a yacht or catamaran. Its primary purpose is to launch and recover a tender boat, jet ski, or other water toys from the water. The equipment is also serving as a multifunctional swim and leisure platform. It can be positioned for use as a gangway, diving ladder, lift platform, or cargo dock. When fully extended in the horizontal position, it also increases the size of the stern, improving your onboard experience. This project was made for a Brazilian company that makes yachts and sea equipments. It has a structure and cylinders in AISI 316L stainless steel, hydraulic pumps with pressure up to 200 Bar, mechanical safety lock, wall-mounted control panel, a 1200/2200w – 12/24V hydraulic unit with included hand pump, and is powered by an central cilindrical hydraulic actuator.
The Virtual Project
This project was initially conceived using the Solidworks® software, from the initial sketch to the final assembly in a 3D virtual environment. Using the positioning system, the parts were fitted together one by one, simulating assembly as if it were a real-world assembly process. After the complete virtual assembly done, an animation of the movements of the entire mechanical system was created. This animation was imported into Unreal Engine 5® software, where the entire project’s environment was created.
The Manufacturing
In order to manufacture the aquatic platform, it was necessary to create 2D drawings for the CNC’s machines, (CNC lathe, CNC Router and CNC Milling), some 2D “.dwg” format files and other 3D “.parasolid” format files, to be imported into CAM (Computer-Aided Manufacturing) softwares, to enable the manufacturing of all pieces. After all the parts were manufactured, they were assembled together and tested on a single piece of equipment.