Text 8c

Intelligent systems of ship automation

Shipbuilding has been always based on the new technologies. During the past years the development of the ships has been based on the implementation of the new solutions of the traditional shipbuilding subjects - hydromechanics, strength of materials and energy. A bit later the main priority was given to the application of physical fields (acoustic, electromagnetic, radiolocation, heat, radiation, etc.). Considerable results have been reached in all the above sectors.

The development of the shipbuilding in the past 20 years has been characterized by the degree of using electronic systems. During a historically short period the shipbuilders have passed the way from automated ships' rudders and some automated weapons on warships to complicated systems of automatic control of the ships' power stations, equipment and movement. A fully integrated system of control is being developed. The modern automated ship controls have high degree of reliability, high survival rate, big volume and high rate of signal processing.

The new tasks and principles allow formulating the new general requirements to the perspective ships. The most important of them are as follows:

- multi role nature of a ship in general;

- universal nature of electronic systems;

- high survival rate;

- maximum compatibility with foreign ships and possibility of cooperating;

- maximum level of ecological safety;

- improved living conditions;

- highly ergonomic machinery.

The multi role nature of large ships as well as the complicated nature of their operations excludes the suggestion to make the ships fully automatic even in the remote future. Therefore the development of ship automation should be based on further integrating separate functional systems, extending their intellectual level and the number of the instruments that can be used. The most perspective direction of automating the ship and introducing robots is ensuring the viability during various damages, as well as servicing potentially dangerous units and systems.

Modern shipbuilders have practically completed changing over to the use of the most modern electronic components and hardware. This enables to assess prospects and philosophies for configuring complex control systems for engineering systems (CCS ES) of the XXI century. The new-generation systems, which should become intellectual, will be designed based on the following principles:

- integration of CCS ES subsystems based on a common (uniform) set of components;

- increase of the share of warning or prediction control actions in addition to the existing damage-response control actions;

- development of computer-aided safety systems;

- increase of the automation level;

- introduction of distributed network architecture based on a common telecommunication net with enhanced reliability and survivability features;

- transition from the concept of operator and technical control station to the philosophy of management-and-engineering systems;

- connection to an integrated information space of the ship;

- establishment of CALS (Computer-Aided Acquisition and Logistics Support) technologies for the development of our products and for supervising them through all stages of their service lives.

The example of the above-described approach is the development of integrated ride control systems, in which a crucial component is the integrated bridge control system (IBC).

It is necessary to clarify the notion of IBC because it is often understood as just a variety of systems assembled in a single control panel. The future IBC will truly integrate different ship controls into a unified inter-related system.

The IBC consists of computer-aided modular workstations for the skipper, the watch officer and the steersman. These modules serve for:

- data acquisition, analysis and display;

- ship navigation safety;

- ship heading and speed controls, remote monitoring for the main power plant, the electric generating plant, etc.

In the automatic mode, the IBC caters for ship steering and navigation safety, controls the set course and speed, monitors principal parameters of the main power plant, controls hull systems. Additionally, the IBC directs crew actions underway, in harbours and unsheltered roadsteads, monitors environment conditions in principal ship spaces.

The main idea implemented in the IBC is integrating the indication of data arriving from terminals, hull system and hardware controls into a single unified system.

So, intelligent systems of ship automation will be certain to ensure a new quality level of ship equipment control systems; will enhance efficiency, reliability, survivability and safety of onboard engineering systems and of naval and commercial ships in general.

Ex. 18. Summarize the main points of the unit in a form of a short report. Add some new information if you can.