EDSON-J UNMANNED SURFACE VEHICLE
HULL SHAPE DESIGN
Luis A. Lau-Shigyo
Mechanical Engineering Professional School
Universidad Nacional de San Agustı́n de Arequipa
Av. Venezuela s/n, Cercado, Arequipa, Peru
llau@unsa.edu.pe
José A. Herrera Quispe
Department of Computer Science
Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos
Calle Germán Amézaga s/n, Lima, Peru
jherreraqu@unmsm.edu.pe
Abstract—Water is a vital element for human beings, its quality
must be supervised through laboratory analysis and in-situ
analysis with payload instrumentation in manned and unmanned
vehicles. An unmanned surface vehicle, named EDSON-J, is
under development since 2019 in Arequipa-Peru, presents a
catamaran hull shape, and serves to monitor water quality in
huge reservoirs, lakes and coastal waters. This paper deals with
the vehicle hull shape design to find its main parameters and tests
different slender body geometries to find polynomial representa-
tions for its main sections. The results are also validated using
the Maxsurf computational tool and, experimentally, performing
circular maneuvers.
Index Terms—Hull form, catamaran, stability, computer aided
design, unmanned vehicle design.
I. I NTRODUCTION
Unmanned surface vehicles (USV) operate on the water
surface autonomously replacing manned boat and vehicles
which their application cover military, sub-sea mining explo-
ration and research areas. In oceanography, they may collect
valuable data and present lower cost compared to manned
research vessels. Considering requirements, such as cruise
speed, wave behavior and payload instrumentation, the hull
design is critical to improve the vehicle performance and
stability.
Despite the notable advances in manufacture industry in the
last decade, fiberglass is still the common material for hull
design. Wood is the selected material for structural frames
and compartments, such as batteries, electronics and payload.
The bow and the stern are filled with foam. There are similar
Portuguese maritime vehicles that use these technologies for
building their hulls, such as the DELFIM ASC [1], the ROAZ
I and the ROAZ II [2]. The Charlie USV is another vehicle
developed in Italy which also has a catamaran shape hull
[3]. However, there is little information in naval architecture
referred to small unmanned crafts. This paper deals with the
study of a catamaran hull design to improve facilities to
978-1-6654-1221-6/21/$31.00 ©2021 IEEE
Juan C. Cutipa-Luque
Pedro Paulet’s Astronomic and Aerospace Institute
Universidad Nacional de San Agustı́n de Arequipa
Cerro San Francisco s/n, Arequipa, Peru
jcutipalu@unsa.edu.pe
Pablo R. Yanyachi
Pedro Paulet’s Astronomic and Aerospace Institute
Universidad Nacional de San Agustı́n de Arequipa
Cerro San Francisco s/n, Arequipa, Peru
raulpab@unsa.edu.pe
assembly-disassembly, construction and transportation proce-
dures. Polynomial expressions for main sections are obtained
and validated with computational software.
II. V EHICLE D ESIGN
A. Preliminary Design
The EDSON-J hull design follows a straightforward
methodology using physical relationship to ensure manoeu-
vrability and control, and considering requirements, such as
the dimension constraints, the weight, the payload, the cruise
speed, and the operation area (reservoir, lakes and sea).
The USV development process deals with construction,
maintenance, operation, and disassembly of the boat. Then,
a review of trends in the development of maritime vehicles
with similar characteristics is considered [1], [2], [3]. Based
on these, a local industry gives the facilities to carry out the
development. The EDSON-J USV is a vessel that will be
used to monitor water quality in bodies of water within the
Arequipa region. The vehicle contains embedded electronic
and payload instrumentation for water quality measurements,
must be operated remotely with sufficient autonomy in typical
missions, and loads weighted acid batteries for its propellers.
The vehicle must have a high degree of reliability in the event
of accidents. In a maritime vehicle of these features, the aim
is to find a good balance between the vehicle’s load capacity
and resistance to advance.
For the vehicle preliminary design, parameters are estimated
according to formulas that approximate the dimensions that
will be used in the design process. The design considers
dimension constraints relative to easy assembly, construction
and transportation. These are: less than 3 meters long (L), 1.6
meters wide (BT ) and 0.4 meters wide per demihull (B). The
last parameter is to guarantee a slender body geometry and to
carry out a lead-acid battery into the hull. Initially, considering
a value of 2.7 m for the waterline length LW L , the Froude (Fn )
number is:

V 1.5
Fn = √ =√ = 0.291, (1)
g ∗ LW L 9.81 ∗ 2.7
where V is the vehicle cruise speed (1.5 m/s), g is the
gravity constant (9.81 m/s2 ). According to semi-empirical
relations in [4] and the obtained Froude number in Eq. (1),
the following hull displacement equation (∇) is applied:
∇ = LBP ∗ B ∗ T ∗ CB ∗ ρ ∗ (1 + s) = 247.722 kg, (2)
where s = 0.007 is the extreme displacement coefficient
(value between 0.006 and 0.008), LBP is the length between
perpendiculars that coincides with L = 3 m, CB = 0.5 is the
block coefficient, and ρ = 1025 kg/m3 is the water density.
The initial estimated weight using Solidworks CAD software
was 230 kg and it is close to the result obtained in Eq. (2).
This total weight includes additional equipment, such as the
payload instrumentation, the guidance and control electronics,
the lead acid batteries, lithium batteries, the propellers, etc.
B. Hull Design
The hull design of a boat is a problem that must be covered
from scratch and solved using a combination of computational
and heuristic methods. A flowchart for the generation of the
hull surface must be established [5]. The first step is to make
sketches by hand that allow a rough description of the desired
shape. These sketches are later made in a CAD software
and the main lines of the hull are established as weight
functions [6] that are carried out using splines. The splines are
defined from polynomial functions using the equation curve
tool, which will be the design parameters. With this tool,
greater control over the variation of the curves is obtained by
changing the coefficients of the polynomial functions while
maintaining the other parameters of length, beam of demihull
(one of the slender body float in the catamaran), total beam and
depth. This method gives a hull approximate shape for further
analysis based on its mathematical expression. [7], [8].
The curves are constructed using polynomial functions of
different degrees. The highest coefficient degree term will be
used as a reference and determine the size of the function. To
find the coefficients of the functions, it is necessary to have
the minimum number of known coordinates in order to replace
and obtain exact data. Only the radius of curvature will change
in each iteration.
Fig. 1 presents the geometry of the demihull in isometric
view and the approximated polynomial functions. Fig. 1(a)
presents an isometric view of a demihull remarking the
sections: the stern (1), the master (2), the deck line (3),
the bow (4) and the keel (5). Fig. 1(b) presents the hull
curves for the stern section (1) and for the master section
(2), both with respect to the body plan. Functions of the form
p(y) = ay n will be used because its shape is very similar
to a V-shaped hull. For the deck line section (3), a function
q(x) = ax3 + bx2 + cx + d will be used due to the number of
known coordinates in the design and the number of necessary
inflection points. For the bow section (4) and for the keel
section (5), a half parabola function r(x) = ax2 will be used
and both vertexes are joint to form the baseline of the boat.
These whole functions will be on the centerline plane, the
demihull has no camber, the deck height remains constant
from port to starboard. According to hull design procedures
given in [9] and for a fast development task, modifications of
the polynomial expressions and their respective plotting were
given in Fig. 1, only for the stern and master sections.
(a) Isometric view (b) Body plans for stern and master
section
Fig. 1. Main hull curves defined as polynomial functions.
The next step in the hull design methodology is to generate
the continuous surface from the main sections defined before.
A computational tool will be used to define the surfaces, which
allows the selection of cross sections and guide curves. To
find a suitable hull shape, the CAD design is inserted into the
Maxsurf software for hydrostatic calculations. The numerically
generated data should be validated with analytical results.
C. Hydrostatics
The simulations consider hull parameter symmetry so that
Maxsurf Modeler could replicate it as a catamaran. The
iterations consider variation in curves (1), (2), (4) and (5),
keeping the deck line (3) constant. The section functions (1)
and (2) present coefficients according to the degree of their
polynomials (from 2 to 6). The section functions (4) and (5)
are parabolas whose modification was the dimension in the
X axis (direction of advance). The Y dimension was kept
constant because the depth had been designated as the set
parameter.
After the iterative process, the following results were ob-
tained (Tab. I), which were compared in Tab. II with the
previously estimated parameters and approximate parameters
for the configuration of a catamaran [9]. Through an ellipsoid
revolution the relations L/B, B/T and LCB/L may be
computed. Tab. II shows the difference and success between
the estimated and obtained data.
D. Stability
The parameters associated with stability design are lon-
gitudinal center of gravity (LCG), vertical center of gravity
(KG), longitudinal metacentric height (GML ) and vertical
metacentric height (GMT ) whose parameters are shown in
Tab. I. The distributed weight of each element of the unmanned
surface vehicle was considered for computational analysis in
Maxsurf. The static stability curve is the graph between the
variation of the heel angle against the righting arm of the
vehicle as shown in Fig. 2. The maximum righting arm at
21.5 degrees of heel angle has a value of 0.521 meters. The
value of 47.5 degrees corresponds to the angle where the water
contacts the hatch of the hull. These curves are made using a
computer due to their complexity in shaping the full hull. The
s/L ratio remained constant in all numerical tests.

TABLE I
V EHICLE PARAMETERS UNDER LOADS .
Fig. 3. Estimated resistance of the demihull.
Parameter Value Unit
Displacement (∇) 235.1 kg
Longitudinal CG (LCG) 1.301 m III. R ESULTS AND FIRST TRIALS
Vertical CG (KG) 0.418 m
Longitudinal GM (GML ) 1.737 m Finally, after the iteration process in Maxsurf computational
Vertical GM (GMT ) 2.019 m software, a polynomial of degree 2 fits for curves (1), (3) and
Hull depth 0.6 m
Draft 0.3 m (4); a polynomial of degree 3 fits for curve (2). Furthermore,
Volume displaced 0.229 m3 it is verified by means of numerical calculations that for a
Water line length 2.778 m velocity of 1.5 m/s, the Froude number is 0.287 and the
Beam at the water line 1.517 m
estimated resistance is equal to 23.79 N per demihull.
Wetted area 3.14 m2
The relation of parameters calculated by Schwetz and Sahoo
in 2002 [10], allows to verify that the vehicle hull is in the
TABLE II validation range for a catamaran, with the exception of the
DATA FOUND BY NUMERICAL ESTIMATION APPROACH . slenderness values due to the fact that some parameters were
changed to be able to carry more cargo without altering the
Estimated Numerical Schwetz and
parameters analysis Sahoo [10] length.
L/B 3.897 4.382 8.8-15.0 Interpreting the GZ curve (Fig. 2), we analyzed the values
L/∇1/3 5.55 4.539 6.30-9.56 obtained in Figure 2. The International Maritime Organization
B/T 2.309 2.113 1.47-2.31
CB 0.508 0.434 0.46-0.68
formulated rules in the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) con-
CP 0.538 0.579 - vention to ensure adequate stability during normal operations.
KB/T 0.566 0.616 - These requirements are:
1) The vertical metacentric height must be greater than 0.15
meters, we can see that the GMT value is 1,737 meters.
2) The righting arm must be at least 0.2 meters for a heeling
angle of 30 degrees, the GZ value is 0.469 meters.
3) The area under the curve from 0 to 30 degrees must be
greater than 0.055 m.rad and the value is 0.185 m.rad.
4) The area under the curve from 0 to 40 degrees must be
greater than 0.09 m.rad and the value is 0.26 m.rad.
5) The area under the curve between 30 and 40 degrees
must be greater than 0.03 m.rad and the value is 0.075
m.rad.
The plans are redrawn to make symmetrically distributed
Fig. 2. GZ Curve.
sections and achieve the physical shape of the molds that
would later serve to manufacture the vehicle hulls with four
E. Estimated resistance. layers of fiberglass, with specific reinforcements in critical
The resistance is mainly caused by the geometric shape of areas (the bow, the keel line and the outboard bracket) and
the hull offering less resistance for slimmer shapes. The effect then cut on a CNC machine. The pre-mold of wood is built
of water viscosity on the hydrodynamic resistance of the boat with the cut sections and it is prepared for the casting of the
depends largely on the L/B ratio and less influenced by the fiberglass mold, which was made in two halves for ease of
s/L ratio [5]. The Maxsurf estimates the resistance at different unmolding. The gel coat is applied, prior to the application
speeds using slender body method. Fig. 3 shows the change in of the fiberglass on the plywood. The gel coat is removed
shape of the polynomial function of the master section between from the mold and 4 layers of fiber are ready for casting
degrees 2 to 6 and its influence on the resistance. to ensure the strength of the hull, in addition to reinforcing
areas of greater stress with 6 layers in the aforementioned
areas. The ribs that serve as reinforcement for the anchor
points are placed. 12 mm plywood sheets formed in CNC
cutting were used. Then, the manual trim system consisting
of a battery with rails and the outboard motor assembly are
mounted. Finally, fiberglass and resin are applied to join and
reinforce the aforementioned parts. The finished model was
tested in a regulating vessel with sufficient space for initial
testings (Fig. 4).
Fig. 4. EDSON-J USV performing water monitoring tasks in a huge
agricultural reservoir in Majes-Arequipa.
Circular maneuvers in the first verify the good performance
of the vehicle hull design. The turning is done by means of
a differential between the speeds on the outboard motors.
Fig. 5 shows the position of the vehicle during the 118 s
time execution task. There is a slight deviation due to the
disturbances generated by the wind in the place where the
tests were carried out.
Fig. 5. Position of the vehicle during circular maneuvers.
IV. C ONCLUSION
The unmanned vehicle dimensions are limited by ease
of assembly, construction, and transport, so they are made
through iterations process to achieve a suitable value for the
form of each demihull. The obtained catamaran configuration
(twin hull) has lower hydrodynamic resistances, in addition to
good stability and a fairly suitable deck space for the water
quality payload instrumentation. The variation of the radius of
curvature allows a precise control of the points that define the
splines and thus find the most convenient value for the project.
This proposed method presents a straightforward generation
of geometry that meets the needs of volumetric displacement,
draft, stability and estimated resistance without modifying the
general dimensions of each hull or the distance between hulls
(s/L). It can also be applied for similar small unmanned
boats. In further work, the actual hull will be analyzed with
Computational Fluid Dynamic approach (CFD).
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The authors thank the Universidad Nacional de San Agustı́n
de Arequipa for financial support (IBAIB-08-2018-UNSA),
and the IAAPP - UNSA.
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