FEATURE SCADA & DATA ACQUISITION DATA COLLECTION SETS SAIL
National Instruments (NI) has supplied its LabVIEW RIO architecture to Condor Ferries to provide a condition monitoring system, capable of connecting to the incumbent data collection system and transferring all data to a shore-based database for later analysis
C
ondor Ferries operates a fleet of three fast ferries providing a year-round
service connecting the Channel Islands through Poole and Weymouth to the north and to St. Malo in France to the south. They employ four 12 cylinder diesel engines driving water jets which give each craft a capability of up to 34 knots, carrying 175 vehicles and 740 passengers. Maximum efficiency for the ferries is
achieved by ensuring that the catamaran hull is planing in the water rather than displacing and this can only happen when the vessel is travelling at a high speed. The multi-port nature of the routes operated and the need to run the engines at high speed result in a tough environment for the engines, and hence requires regular maintenance checks to ensure they are performing correctly. Structured Software Design Consultants (SSDC) was entrusted with the
development of a bespoke system capable of hooking into the incumbent data collection system and transferring all data to an onshore database for analysis later. These systems were to be fitted to the bridge console of each of the three vessels. SSDC is a National
Instruments alliance member and a supplier of custom designed functional test laboratory management, industrial control systems, logging and database systems to aerospace, military, academic research, automotive and manufacturing industry.
APPLICATION REQUIREMENTS To keep schedule disruption to a minimum, the requirement from Condor Ferries was to develop a data collection system so that engine and ship
conditions can be monitored over an extended period. The data would then be analysed so that any trends leading to failure could be identified and components changed before actual failure. Each vessel was fitted from the outset with a data collection system which monitored up to 600 parameters and reported them to a display unit on the bridge. However, the system had no trending
Above and opposite: the challenge for Condor Ferries is to maintain a punctual and reliable service to the Channel Islands while running the vessels at their optimum efficiency
capability and no easy method for transferring data to the shore. The data collection system fitted to each vessel is supplied by Racal-Dana and is typical of a distributed monitoring system utilising a multi-drop network - a PC with specific serial communication cards acts as the host and communicates with 8-bit microcontrollers acting as slaves. The physical layer of the network is based on the RS-485 standard. To reduce loading on
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