Investigation and implementation of rapid prototyping in development of a high-speed light craft

Abstract: Designing and constructing boats or ships is a slow, iterative process where the design goes through several steps in each iteration, and every loop in the process leads closer to the result. However, to verify if the boat's design functions, it must be built if there is no possibility to design, build, and evaluate smaller prototypes during the development.  This report presents a method for rapid prototyping based on additive manufacturing and agile development methods. The method was applied in a development project where an engine hatch concept, based on a sandwich construction, is evaluated for a high-speed light craft. The concept was tested and evaluated with built prototypes during three iterations with increasing complexity.  The development project's result confirmed the engine hatch concept with a recommendation of using it in production. It also showed that the rapid prototyping method was well suited for this project and other development projects for high-speed light craft.