Mechanical, Electromechanical and Mechatronic Test for Marine and
Maritime testing, such as full vessel strain & stress, harbor pressure, ...
imc DataWorks specializes in multi-parameter, mixed-signal
mechanical data acquisition, measurement, and
control. While testing requirements are always specific to each client, imc's
Marine Industry customers benefit from imc's general approach toward
mechanical engineering, including both vessel based and
harbor based measurements, such as
- Materials strength & fatigue: hull, prop(s), driveshaft, ...
- Test Stand materials and systems studies
- Dynamic measurements during voyage
- Vibration (entire vessel, local characteristics, specific systems)
- Acoustic (localized analysis, vessel emissions, ...)
- Fluid Dynamics (pressure, flow, ...) / Model evaluation
- Subsystem / Component Testing
- Engine Tests, performance
- Power output
- Propeller performance (surface pressure, strain)
- Condition Monitoring
- Specification Based Testing
- Certification
- Classification / Fatigue
- Functionality Testing / Safety Systems
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Birth of CANSAS Modules
While the CAN Bus ("Controller Area Network") originated with the company Bosch
for the Automotive industry,
imc's first customers for the distributed CAN based measurement modules,
CANSAS, were
actually in the marine industry.
The challenge was clear: "temporary" instrumentation of a ship
means you are not drilling through
watertight bulkheads, but instead running cables through the open hatches.
Analog cables. Long, expensive, salt
water resistant, low resistance cables, in the case of strain gauges.
The cost of cabling alone justifies a
distributed
solution. This is only accentuated when considering the problem of testing in
the open seas, where the
possibility of water sensors may be tripped (accidentally, as during a test, or
for actual tests in rough
seas) -- leading to automatic hatch closure and the consequent cutting of all
those expensive analog cables!
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Marine measurements fall into two primary categories:
- Engineering Tests: typically short term, attended measurements where access to
live data, and immediate test restults are required. The ability to adapt to
changing conditions and demands, as well as immediately prepare preliminary
analysis are key.
- Smaller centralized or hybrid
centralized-decentralized systems can be quickly moved from "benchtop"
tests to field testing, and provide networked data access for live
multi-point display and analysis.
- Multiple "component" tests can be combined to a larger "system test",
synchronizing data, and aiding in system correlation studies
- Long term logging: stand alone measurements for weeks, months, or even years of
data collection.
- In the interest of containing the data volumes, real time
processing, triggering, classification/histogramming, are essential
- Automatic self-start / automatic storage on power failure is essential for
reliable long-term recording.
- Onboard data storage with reliable data access method(s) for analysis,
reporting, and archival purposes.
Research ship equipped with multiple GPS synchronized systems, including a
hybrid centralized-decentralized measurement system with distributed CAN Bus
measurements, and multiple active monitoring PCs.
As the testing demands increase, the applicability of the imc systems become clear:
- Increasingly intelligent subsystems (e.g. safety systems, engine subunits,
etc.) necessitate more complex measurments.
- Time to Market pressures are in conflict with development needs, testing
and time for approvals/certifications.
- Large, inflexible centralized rack systems (such as VXI) are too difficult
to adapt.
- Easy-to-use small decentralized measurement systems, such as
BusDAQ and DAX provide an
modular, configuration based approach
- Higher standards require more testing, more channels, more analysis
- Effects of Vibration on Human Beings (ISO 2631 / 6954)
- Engine Vibration standards (ISO 7919, ISO 10816, ...)
- Intelligent, configurable systems based on the
CRONOS Platformcan be readily adapted to new standards and changing
requirements
- Synchronized measurements of data bus (e.g. CAN Bus) based subsystems and
conventional analog sensor signals.
- Integrated Field Bus
interface
such as CAN Bus provides a seamless, synchronized way to collect all data
channels, regardless of source
- And traditional requirements must still be met, such as
- Wide range of power options, such as AC (100 - 220 VAC, 50/60 Hz) and/or
DC (9 - 32 VDC, with battery backup in case of power interruptions).
- Rugged enclosures tolerant of vibration, shock, temperature, humidity swings
- Where necessary, watertight enclosures and connections
- imc systems are based on a platform design, where functionality and
package are essentially decoupled. Choose the right channels, and the
right chassis, such as CRONOS-PL and CRONOS-SL
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Data Acquisition 
Instrument Setup
System Features
Visualization & Analysis
Documentation & I/O
More Info
