Wireless Condition Monitoring of Machinery and Equipment in Maritime Industry: An Overview

Seagoing vessels are highly complex systems. Major requirements of marine vessels are continuous running time and high production output. As such, these systems require high availability and reliability, and are dependent on preventive maintenance procedures. Development of diverse range of sensors, combined with overall reduction in price, enabled implementation of condition based maintenance in such systems. Large increases in fuel cost, environmental restrictions and further crew reduction are current trend in maritime industry. Considering marine sector emphasis on the reduction of fuel consumption, environmental restrictions, and reduction of crew size, implementation of condition based maintenance is favourable, especially with regard to lost man-hours. However, high initial cost of installation on moving vessels, necessary crew training and additional sensor maintenance inhibits implementation of condition based maintenance. Replacing wired monitoring system with wireless ship-board sensor network would mitigate the above mentioned problems. However, current research of wireless sensor networks is based on terrestrial installation. This paper analyses the application of wireless sensor network technology on board seagoing vessels. Practical engineering solutions, including sensor types, configurations and wireless network topologies have been identified and reviewed

Remote monitoring of a cold chain

We understand for cold chain the uninterrupted maintenance of the conditions of temperature needed in every moment to guarantee the integrity of organoleptic and sanitary characteristics in food, which must not be broken to avoid loose of such properties The company Vegetàlia, is involved in the production of ecological food and now wants to see the possibilities of improvement in monitoring its cold chain. Additionally, it wants also to check if its production autoclave fulfills the required operating parameters. In the present work different mechanisms are approached to remote monitoring the continuity of the mentioned cold chain, either in the vans and in the cold-storage rooms, by means of the utilization of different sensors integrated in BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) and WiFi devices. In case of break of the chain, an alert systems is provided by sending SMS and e-mail to the responsible individuals. Hereby, allowing them the management of such possible anomalies, as well as improve solving it before may affect the cold chain integrity. The system performances allow know, likewise, the location of the vans, by means of the integrated GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver, working together with a positioning service, such as Google Maps.Entenem per cadena de fred el manteniment ininterromput de les condicions de temperatura requerides a cada moment per a garantir la integritat de les característiques organolèptiques i sanitàries dels aliments, i que no es pot trencar sense perdre algun d'aquests trets. L'empresa Vegetàlia, dedicada a la producció d'aliments ecològics, vol veure les expectatives de millora en el control de la cadena de fred. Addicionalment, també vol realitzar el control de l'autoclau, per tal de veure si acompleix amb els paràmetres de treball requerits. En el present treball s'aborden mecanismes per tal de monitoritzar de forma remota el manteniment d'aquesta cadena tant a les furgonetes com a les cambres frigorífiques, mitjançant la utilització de diferents sensors integrats amb dispositius BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) i WiFi. En cas de trencament, s'estableix un sistema d'alertes per mitjà de SMS i correu electrònic als responsables de la mateixa. D'aquesta manera facilita la gestió de les anomalies i la seva solució. Les prestacions del sistema també possibiliten conèixer la situació de les furgonetes, mitjançant el receptor GPS (Global Positioning System) integrat interactuant amb un servei de posicionament, com ara Google Maps.Entendemos por cadena de frío el mantenimiento ininterrumpido de las condiciones de temperatura requeridas en cada momento para garantizar la integridad de las características organolépticas y sanitarias de los alimentos, que no debe romperse en ningún momento si no se quiere perder las mismas. La empresa Vegetàlia, dedicada a la producción de alimentos ecológicos, desea ver las posibilidades de mejora en el control de su cadena de frío. Adicionalmente, también se quiere realizar un control de la autoclave, con la finalidad de ver si cumple con los parámetros de trabajo requeridos. En el presente trabajo se abordan diferentes mecanismos para monitorizar de forma remota la continuidad de dicha cadena, tanto en las furgonetas como en las cámaras frigoríficas, mediante la utilización de diferentes sensores integrados en dispositivos BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy) y WiFi. En caso de rotura de la misma, se establece un sistema de alertas mediante SMS y correo electrónico a los responsables de la misma. De esta manera, se facilita la gestión de las posibles anomalías, así como agiliza su resolución antes de que pueda llegar a afectar a la integridad de la cadena de frío. Las prestaciones del sistema permiten, asimismo, conocer la ubicación de las furgonetas, mediante el receptor GPS (Global Positioning System) integrado, mediante su interacción con un servicio de posicionamiento, tal como Google Maps

A Bluetooth-Smart Insulating Container for Cold-Chain Logistics

Abstract—This paper describes an intelligent insulating ship-ping container (IISC) and the supporting backend for cold-chain logistics. Each IISC can monitor the interior temperature of the container during shipping of temperature-sensitive items and alerts the deliverer wirelessly via a Bluetooth-Smart (also called Bluetooth 4.0 Low Energy, BLE) connection on their smartmobile without infrastructure or dongle. The smart-mobile also serves as a BLE-tag reader, user interface, and communication uplink for shipment tracking. BLE enables the IISCs to be wakable on demand within a short latency while lasting for six months to a year on each battery charge. When integrated into cold-chain logistics, our IISCs are expected to not only reduce the amount of goods spoiled during shipping but also improve fuel efficiency of fleets by enabling effective use of passive cooling elements. Keywords-Bluetooth Smart, insulating shipping container, temperature monitoring, smartmobile, cold-chain logistics I