Application of 5G rugged industrial AIOs in offshore vessels.

Industry Development Background

The evolution of offshore vessels is intricately intertwined with multiple sectors, including maritime transportation, fishery trade, tourism development, and energy exploration, fostering the prosperity of regional economies and cultures. 

As modern science and information technology continue to gain prominence across industries, the Industrial 4.0 revolution gradually permeates the maritime sector, ushering in an era of automation, intelligence, and integration within vessel terminal equipment applications.

Industry Application Needs

The intricate internal systems and structures of vessels, coupled with numerous electrical and control devices, often lead to high maintenance costs and inefficient management. Industrial all-in-one computers, integrating display, computing, control, and communication functions, offer highly intelligent display and control solutions for offshore vessels, providing a hardware foundation for integrating into the information-driven shipping ecosystem. Moreover, the harsh maritime environment with high salt and humidity necessitates heightened industrial protection standards for touchscreen all-in-ones used in ships.

Solutions

Taking the 5th generation industrial all-in-one computer as an example, its ruggedized heavy-duty design effectively confronts various maritime uncertainties. Featuring high-precision aluminum alloy die-casting for a seamless body, resistance to salt spray corrosion, and electromagnetic interference mitigation, its internal shock-absorbing structure, sealed waterproof gaskets, and threaded DC connectors ensure comprehensive corrosion, moisture, interference, and vibration resistance, safeguarding the stable operation of vessel equipment.

Industrial all-in-ones can further enable the following applications in the maritime sector:

Ship-Shore Interoperability & Edge Computing:In the era of smart ships, individual vessels are no longer isolated entities. Leveraging IoT, cloud computing, and serial communication technologies like 4G/5G and RS485, our 5th generation X86-based industrial all-in-ones facilitate information exchange between offshore vessels and shores, deeply integrating intelligent scenarios such as vessel perception, safety-assisted navigation, and energy efficiency control. Given limited communication bandwidth at sea, the demand for edge computing deployed at the frontline is prominent. Equipped with up to an Intel i7 dual-core processor, SATA2.0, MSATA, M.2 memory expansion, these all-in-ones provide robust edge computing power, massive data storage, and cloud access to historical data, supporting big data collection and decision-making applications in shipping.

2.Integrated Control: As a comprehensive heavy-duty equipment, ships house numerous sensor systems and hardware within their hulls. Integrated management is crucial for enhancing operational efficiency and reducing costs. The intelligent 5th generation industrial controllers are compatible with diverse communication hardware, software, and protocols, equipped with ample I/O interfaces (USB, serial ports, GPIO, etc.), enabling dynamic monitoring of electronic equipment status and ensuring efficient, stable ship operations.

3.Smart Interaction: The 5th generation series boasts high-spec industrial LCD screens, supporting customizable upgrades in screen size, brightness, viewing angles, and resolution. Integrated with vessel information perception systems (e.g., electronic nautical charts, AIS, marine radars), they display vessel headings, speeds, positions, obstacles, warnings, and more, facilitating real-time monitoring and interactive operations in the main control room.

4.Multimedia Applications: In civilian passenger vessels, such as cruise cabins, restaurants, entertainment centers, and lobbies, industrial control devices offer multimedia functionalities like audio-visual entertainment, cabin guidance, safety education, and information push notifications, boasting high system security and software compatibility.

Application Empowerment

Industrial all-in-one devices play a pivotal role in the digital and intelligent transformation of the maritime sector, significantly enhancing efficiency and reducing labor costs. With a wealth of accumulated vessel application solutions, we will continue leveraging our system development and intelligent hardware expertise to refine our technology and offer all-in-one products tailored to even more demanding scenarios, creating greater value for smart shipping applications.