Data communication is essential in any mechatronic system or product. It allows for devices
to communicate with one another, for a more efficient and self-regulating system. To
effectively rely on the communication between devices, the communication must firsts be
tested and evaluated for errors and correct data transmission. Sensors and sensor data
addresses can easily be switched and when a device is communicating with another, it is
imperative that the correct sensor data is transmitted when a slave device receives a signal to
do so. If this condition is not verified, the master device could be receiving wrong signals and
coincidently sending alerts or warning messages to the user. In more extreme cases the device
can enter an emergency shutdown situation and fail to restart.
The objective of this work is to study, design and develop a software device that allows the
user to simulate, evaluate and verify the Modbus communication between the Platform
Management System (PMS) of a ship and the main equipment on board. The PMS is the
onboard static master device that displays all the received data to the ship’s captain for
analysis. This work focuses in particular on a ship's generators, where the available signals
will be assessed. The signals, stipulated in the equipment’s specification documents, are
transmitted directly from the equipment and are then received by the PMS. The PMS and the
onboard equipment are programmed by various entities, of which, can all make mistakes
while programming and therefor, the sensor and warning names and messages are not
coherent with the corresponding values.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
