HD Hyundai, one of South Korea’s leading shipbuilders, has teamed up with German tech giant Siemens and U.S. powerhouse NVIDIA to accelerate its digital transformation. This alliance aims to integrate cutting-edge technology across all phases of ship design, construction, and operation, moving closer to the goal of establishing an intelligent, autonomous shipyard by 2030.
Roland Busch, President and CEO of Siemens, highlighted HD Hyundai Heavy Industries as a prime example of the ‘industrial metaverse’ in action during his recent LinkedIn update. At Siemens’ annual shareholder meeting, Busch showcased how HD Hyundai is employing the collaborative technology developed by Siemens and NVIDIA for ship design and operations.
In a video shared by Busch, HD Hyundai demonstrates its process of designing ships using a virtual 3D model. This technology allows for meticulous examination of every component – right down to individual screws in a vessel with around 7 million parts. With just a mouse click, engineers can simulate the ship either floating on water or under construction, providing a realistic environment for testing and troubleshooting design and manufacturing issues before they arise in the real world. This foresight helps in cost reduction and boosts efficiency.
The industrial metaverse is powered by Siemens’ ‘Xcelerator’ platform, which manages digital twins, integrated with NVIDIA’s ‘Omniverse’, a platform for real-time 3D collaboration and simulation. This synergy allows clients like HD Hyundai to leverage the strengths of both companies. For instance, HD Hyundai uses Siemens’ ‘Teamcenter’ within Xcelerator for digital twin design, and then runs detailed simulations through NVIDIA’s Omniverse, matching real-world scenarios closely in both visual and physical aspects.
The digital twins created by Xcelerator benefit from NVIDIA’s advanced AI and GPU technologies, ensuring high predictive accuracy as they reflect actual process data. HD Hyundai has been working closely with NVIDIA to validate these virtual models, including detailed measurements of LNG carriers for accurate rendering of specifications, shapes, colors, and logos.
NVIDIA has also publicly acknowledged this cross-industry partnership. At last year’s GTC 2024, NVIDIA’s CEO Jensen Huang presented Hyundai Samho Heavy Industries’ 3D model rendering of an LNG carrier as a significant case study of Omniverse’s application.
Back in 2022, HD Hyundai and Siemens signed an MoU to develop next-generation design and production platforms. By July last year, both companies reviewed the progress of digital manufacturing at HD Hyundai’s Global R&D Center (GRC), with key executives including HD Hyundai’s Vice Chairman Ki-seon Jeong in attendance.
