Damage Control

Personnel Tracking System (DC-PTS)

Simsmart Technologies is developing a revolutionary Damage Control Personnel Tracking System (DC-PTS),
be an early adopter!

The main objectives of the DC-PTS are to:

ü Track the route, location and health status of damage control personnel while they are attacking incidents such as shoring or fire fighting

ü Track the mesh network infrastructure integrity and health condition

ü At all time, measure the temperature in each compartment and deviation as a rate of change or absolute value

The tracking infrastructure is based on a battery-powered network mesh unique technology.

System features:

The DC-PTS is composed of the following elements:

ü Battery-powered wireless mesh network,

ü Wearable transponder for DC personnel and/or others

ü Portable or fixed Windows based station:

· Connection to mesh network for personnel tracking

· Database logs personnel location with date and time

· Isometric or plan views that identifies location and route of DC personnel and also each compartment temperature on a continuous basis

A wireless mesh network is deployed in all compartments of interest for damage control and/or where temperature monitoring is important. The wireless mesh network does not require ship power and any external wiring. Hence, its installation cost is low. A mounting bracket would be installed in each compartment of interest. The mesh network unit is then secured on the bracket.

Large compartments such as engine and machinery rooms or long passageways would contain 2 node units in order to “sectorize” the network installation in a “port-starboard” and “aft-forward” topology. This will enhance the network integrity in case of casualty.

Another advantage of the “Damage control personnel Tracking System” is the fact that although a ship would be experiencing a total electrical black-out, using a portable computer on batteries the wireless mesh would still report the DC personnel location and each compartment temperature reading with all corresponding defined alarming.

Damage control personnel is tracked by wearing a portable node unit clipped on the belt. The portable unit monitors the fixed network infrastructure and registers to the one with the strongest signal, hence the one in the compartment where the DC personnel is located. Simsmart is also exploring the possibility of mounting accelerometers and/or heart beat monitoring on the DC personnel portable units. The system would alarm on defined thresholds of either measurement.

In the event of a major disaster casualty where the complete ship mid-section would be disabled from top to bottom, two independent aft network and forward network would self organize.

The mesh network units location need therefore to be strategically chosen. Each of the fixed node also measure the compartment temperature where it is located.

The damage control personnel location is dynamically reported to wirelessly connected PCs (laptop and/or fixed stations) via the fixed node infrastructure. The mesh network system health is also reported back to the wirelessly connected PCs.

The location, temperature data and system health information is stored in a SQL compliant database. This information is also displayed on plan or isometric views. The information is archived for trending, reporting and analysis.

The mesh network unit nodes association to compartment names and portable unit nodes to specific DC personnel are defined in a database. The temperature thresholds and rate of change alarming are defined also in this definition database. All dynamic information is available using open architecture industrial OPC technology (see www.opcfoundation.org).

Figure 1 - “Damage control personnel Tracking System” functional architecture

Features at a glance:

ü DC personnel is tracked by wireless mesh

ü Database (SQL compliant) logs personnel presence in compartments and significant alarms and events

ü Ship compartments isometric or plan views plots DC personnel route

ü Capability to track personnel using laptop on battery while the ship is in complete black-out

ü System tracks mesh network integrity and battery health

ü Alarm generated when monitored personnel disappears from tracking

ü Set alarm timer for maximum time allowed in a compartment

ü Set alarm when personnel entry in compartments with access interdiction

ü Optional compartment temperature monitoring from each network mesh units to alarm on sudden temperature rise for advance incident/fire alarm

ü DC personnel portable unit configuration for:

· On-board accelerator for no motion detection for a specified period of time

· “Emergency assistance required” button

· Report back to DC central emergency light

Figure 2 – PC tracking application

The tracking infrastructure:

The tracking network operates in the frequency band (902 - 928MHz) and is designed to last 10+ years on batteries depending on the choice and number of installed batteries.

To achieve multi-year battery life, the tracking technology minimizes power-hungry transmissions to the strict minimum. Unlike Internet Protocol (IP) based technologies, the tracking protocol is optimized for small payloads of a few bytes, e.g. RFID identification number, analog sensor measurement, on/off control command, etc..

Mesh network infrastructure features at a glance:

ü 100% mesh and battery powered

ü Low cost installation (Secured to any existing cable trays or equipment)

ü Low cost maintenance

ü No single point of failure

ü Does not require ship power

ü Self-organizing and self-healing

ü Years of battery life (2 – 10+ depending on battery size and quantity selection)