3 ms·

Are there any articles or press out there that describe the stabilization tech used on the barge? A lot of the things when looking through Google seem to focus

Are there any articles or press out there that describe the stabilization tech used on the barge? A lot of the things when looking through Google seem to focus on the challenges of guiding the rocket but not stabilizing the platform. I guess it tends to be a non-issue since it seems their plan all along was landing it on land, but I'd be really interested to see the design story that went into the barge.

mbell 11y ago
There is nothing special about the barge stabilization, it's off the shelf marine tech. A few azimuth thrusters controlled by a station keeping system. The only unusual thing about it is that the azimuth thrusters are a lot more powerful than would normally be put on a barge that size to give it better positional control in rough seas.
- flountown 11y ago
  I know this was a few days ago, but I forgot to check back. The reason I ask, is that this company http://seakeeper.com/ http://seakeeper.com/ used to be a customer of mine. It seems like an extremely cool concept and I know it works for smaller vessels and the company is currently developing larger solutions for the government and oil industries.
  - mbell 11y ago
    This is what the SpaceX barge uses: https://www.thrustmaster.net/out-drive-propulsion-unit/portable-dynamic-positioning-system/ https://www.thrustmaster.net/out-drive-propulsion-unit/porta...
sparkzilla 11y ago
There are two kinds of stabilization required: Side-to-side, which would use azimuth thrusters, and up-down which can be implemented with SWATH: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small-waterplane-area_twin_hull http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small-waterplane-area_twin_hull
Swannie 11y ago
My question isn't really about stabilising the platform, as others have mentioned that should be off the shelf marine tech. But this isn't exactly landing a helicopter on a ship/platform. I'm expecting a rocket to be a fair bit heavier... as that weight comes down, unless it's perfectly on centre, you now have a large force acting to unbalance the platform. Whilst X-Y may be stabilised, the pitch and the yaw is going to be affected by that weight.

mbell 11y ago

There is nothing special about the barge stabilization, it's off the shelf marine tech. A few azimuth thrusters controlled by a station keeping system. The only unusual thing about it is that the azimuth thrusters are a lot more powerful than would normally be put on a barge that size to give it better positional control in rough seas.

flountown 11y ago
I know this was a few days ago, but I forgot to check back. The reason I ask, is that this company http://seakeeper.com/ http://seakeeper.com/ used to be a customer of mine. It seems like an extremely cool concept and I know it works for smaller vessels and the company is currently developing larger solutions for the government and oil industries.
- mbell 11y ago
  This is what the SpaceX barge uses: https://www.thrustmaster.net/out-drive-propulsion-unit/portable-dynamic-positioning-system/ https://www.thrustmaster.net/out-drive-propulsion-unit/porta...

sparkzilla 11y ago

There are two kinds of stabilization required: Side-to-side, which would use azimuth thrusters, and up-down which can be implemented with SWATH: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small-waterplane-area_twin_hull http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small-waterplane-area_twin_hull

Swannie 11y ago

My question isn't really about stabilising the platform, as others have mentioned that should be off the shelf marine tech. But this isn't exactly landing a helicopter on a ship/platform. I'm expecting a rocket to be a fair bit heavier... as that weight comes down, unless it's perfectly on centre, you now have a large force acting to unbalance the platform. Whilst X-Y may be stabilised, the pitch and the yaw is going to be affected by that weight.