John Venables is not promising to make Dramamine completely a thing of the past ”“ but he hopes to be able to keep at least a few good men out of casts.
Naiad Dynamics Inc. is vying to develop an automated ride-control system for the small, rigid-hull inflatable boats used by the U.S. Navy and its SEAL commando teams.
At high speeds, crews on rigid-hull inflatable boats can be injured by the pounding waves, with sensitive equipment possibly damaged as well. By using radar or radio frequency technology to gauge wave heights in the path of a vessel, Naiad hopes to feed a road map of sorts to help boats adjust on the fly using fins, T-foils and other underwater devices attached to hulls.
Named for the water nymphs of Greek mythology, Naiad has about 50 people at its Shelton headquarters and that many more at several other offices, including one in Maryland that is taking the lead on the company”™s Small Business Innovation Research grant from the U.S. Navy. Companies in California and Ohio are also addressing the problem.
The company that is Naiad today was formed in 2009 from a managed buyout from a British parent company. Naiad dates back to 1941 when it manufactured parts for the aerospace industry, and still does today ”“ for instance, it makes titanium rotor head housings for Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. in Stratford.
Naiad is best known for its maritime products, however, particularly roll stabilizers for yachts, fins and other devices attached to gyroscopes that jut below the hull to counteract the action of waves. The company also has sold a stabilization system to the U.S. Navy for use on the U.S.S. Independence, a 377-foot armored trimaran intended for combat duty close to shore.
Naiad”™s devices reduce side-to-side roll as much as 90 percent while also smoothing out a vessel”™s stem-to-stern pitch through waves, the amount of elevator-action heaving that swells induce and the off-course yaws that can lead to zigzagging through a chop.
Whereas Naiad”™s current systems can only respond to fluid dynamics directly underneath a vessel, the U.S. Navy wants something that can make adjustments to waves in front of a speeding boat before they wreak their havoc.
The key engineering problem, of course, is the “learning time” any system would require in confused seas. Naiad”™s systems are already minor miracles of modern engineering, sending 200 instructions a second to underwater apparatus to smooth out a boat”™s ride. But responding to a wave that has yet to hit? That”™s something else again, Naiad”™s CEO said.
“When you think about (Naiad”™s systems), it”™s always reactive,” Venables said. “It”™s not proactive, anticipating what”™s about to happen.”
Venables anticipates the company will be able to meet the Navy”™s needs and that the company will in time get a system into commercial use as well.
And other naval architects are experimenting with new hull designs in an effort to mitigate the shocks to boats and occupants, along with cockpits effectively suspended from hulls to act as a shock absorber and seats that similarly absorb punishing blows from the sea.
