How Pelagos used large-format 3D printing in Waterloo to take the Vantage V0 autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) from CAD to untethered saltwater trials, with no tooling and on a startup budget.
~5 months
From concept to working vehicle
1 piece
Seamless printed hull
~1 hr
Powered in untethered saltwater trials
0
Molds or production tooling
The Challenge
Pelagos was founded in early 2026 by two engineers with one mission: make underwater autonomy as portable and accessible as aerial drones. Their first vehicle, the Vantage V0, is a backpack-portable autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) prototype.
The V0 needed a complex, hydrodynamic hull, with curved surfaces, integrated thruster ducts and internal mounting geometry, and it needed it fast. Traditional routes meant expensive tooling, long lead times and painful design changes. For a two-person startup, that math didn't work.
The one-piece V0 hull, front view, with the integrated thruster ducts.
CAD → water
3D ForgeHub printed the V0 hull as a single piece using large-format additive manufacturing. No molds, no tooling, and no seams between printed hull sections.
Our Solution
Large-format 3D printing gave Pelagos a fast, low-cost loop from CAD to a testable hull.
Thruster shrouds, ducts and mounting features printed as part of the hull.
Stage 01
Thruster shrouds, ducts and mounting features were printed as part of the hull itself, eliminating the seams and assembly of a multi-part shell.
One-piece hull
The Vantage V0 hull during assembly, with thruster mounts, wiring and hardware going in.
Stage 02
Design changes went from CAD to a testable hull almost immediately, so the team could refine the vehicle as fast as they could design it.
Rapid iteration
V0 during pool trials.
Stage 03
Prototype-grade spending instead of production-tooling spending. That speed helped two engineers go from a clean-sheet design to a working vehicle in about five months.
No tooling costs
Sea Trials
The 3D printed hull didn't just look the part. It carried V0 through untethered saltwater trials.
V0 during pool trials.
Running submerged, the one-piece hull performing as designed.
On the bench between test sessions.
Project Results
Client
Pelagos
Vehicle
Vantage V0, backpack-portable AUV prototype
Our role
3D printed the one-piece V0 hull
Method
Large-format additive manufacturing, no molds or tooling
Timeline
About five months from concept to working vehicle
Trials
About one hour powered and operational in untethered saltwater trials
Control
Closed-loop roll and pitch stabilization, plus forward/reverse propulsion
• Untethered operation with wireless command response
• Multi-axis maneuvering and hovering, relevant to close-proximity inspection of hulls, piers and subsea structures
• Positive buoyancy with passive self-righting
• Backpack-portable, hand-launched by a single operator
• Showcased to industry and defence stakeholders
Pelagos is now developing the V1 platform, designed for autonomous, untethered operation with modular payloads for ISR, inspection and other mission sensing. The same rapid-prototyping loop that produced V0 is carrying the program forward.
“3D ForgeHub helped us go from design to water quickly and on a startup budget. In our early days, that speed mattered more than anything.”
Shrey Naphade, Co-Founder and CTO, Pelagos
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3D ForgeHub provides rapid prototyping, functional 3D printed parts and low-volume manufacturing for engineers and startups across Ontario.
3D Printing · Waterloo, Ontario · 3dforgehub.com
At 3D ForgeHub, innovation and precision come together to deliver professional 3D printing and additive manufacturing services in Waterloo.
With more than a decade of experience in manufacturing, engineering, and advanced 3D design, our team specializes in producing high-quality custom 3D printed parts, rapid prototypes, and small-batch manufacturing solutions for businesses and individuals across Canada.
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