Monitoring system to vessels operational parameters
A Greek based SME, established in 1991, deals with the production of electronics. It provides technology-based solutions for businesses and organizations. It designs, develops and manufactures a wide array of integrated IT solutions, smart-grid and wireless-based systems and integrated electronic components.
In the last seven years one of the company’s basic research activities is in the field of wireless sensor networks. For more than three years, the company has developed a hardware and software platform to support applications based on smart wireless sensors. The new platform is an innovative patented platform that enables remote monitoring and analysis of vessels operational parameters. It is a powerful tool that collects and transmits real-time data from any type of vessel imminently to the administration headquarters’ through a smart-sensors wireless network, providing complete diagnosis and early warnings (e.g. condition of the ship’s engines).
The company’s solution assists maritime companies to achieve higher efficiency in operation, better environmental protection and compliance, dynamic predictive maintenance and effective coordination between crew and administration. It minimizes risk, time and cost and maximizes the benefits of the transition to condition based maintenance and green shipping. Condition-based maintenance (CBM), shortly described, is maintenance when need arises. This maintenance is performed after one or more indicators show that equipment is going to fail or that equipment performance is deteriorating. Condition-based maintenance was introduced to try to maintain the correct equipment at the right time. The aim is to monitor the structural behavior of ships during the operation at sea. The introduction of wireless sensors into the architectural designs reduces the cost and installation complexity of hull monitoring systems. Condition-based maintenance is based on using real-time data to prioritize and optimize maintenance resources. Observing the state of the system is known as condition monitoring. Such a system determines the equipment's health, and act only when maintenance is actually necessary.
The new platform consists of a network of wireless collectors, connected to both analog or digital sensors/devices tasked to watch over conditions in any area of a vessel. Data are processed into valuable information that is transmitted through a mesh technology low consumption wireless network to the ship server and to the company’s headquarters through a satellite link. Intelligent algorithms analyze continuously all data collected and present to fleet-managers in the headquarters on any terminal device, reports in order to detect abnormal situations (suspicious-out of limits measurements etc) and maintenance issues as well as early warnings suggesting proper actions or measures to be taken.
The basic aim was to develop systems with smart sensors for specific applications. The new platform is used in a number of European technical institutes and universities. The company is looking for commercial cooperation with technical assistance to share its know-how.
The company seeks partners that design electronics, especially monitoring systems for vessels and/or research organizations that design prototypes. The company is looking for partners from electronics manufacturing for commercial cooperation with technical assistance. It is able to collaborate on technical issues related to the optimization of the production.
