A Russian company has developed a propeller-rudder system for the AARI ice basin

The complex will allow the testing of various vessel models

Engineers of Trionix Lab. (Saint-Petersburg) have completed a project on creation of the propeller-rudder system for the ice basin of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute (AARI). This was reported to information-analytical agency PortNews by Ivan Putintsev, CEO of the company.

The complex includes three steering thrusters, two steering columns, three stern gears, a hardware module, a battery array and a control indicator. They are mounted on a ship model and allow the simulation of various situations in a test ice basin. The complex is controlled from the shore. The operator can not only set various parameters, but also see the data from sensors in real time: thrust, torsion moment and revolutions of thrusters, angles of rotation of columns. All data is recorded on removable media for further analysis of the data and its use by AARI specialists.

"The advantages of the developed complex is that it is fully modular and allows the layout of almost all known propulsion schemes on ships. Two steering thrusters, for example, are mounted on the model and connected to the hardware module. The operator then initializes them on the control panel, and the complex is ready to work," said the head of Trionix Lab.

This complex has already proved to be a success. It is being used to design the Ivan Frolov research vessel (R/V), which is being contracted by Admiralty Shipyards (part of the United Shipbuilding Corporation, USC) and Roshydromet on March 6, 2023. The vessel is intended for Russia's Antarctic programme and will be operated by the AARI.