Page 45: of Marine News Magazine (January 2019)

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Thinking outside the bridge:

Sperry Marine’s mobile ECDIS

Introducing mobility, connectivity and trusted functionality requires matching ideas with deliverable solutions.

s a company that has navigation systems in its but its introduction provides the potential for more ? ex-

DNA, it has become a natural process for Sperry ible working from numerous locations around the vessel.

Marine to think about what the new wave of digi- Beginning with the ability to monitor speci? ed systems, the

A talization can do for its customers. To that end, this navi- concept lays the groundwork for the introduction of moni- gation systems specialist has created TabletBridge to meet toring and even control of more applications in future. customer demands for mobile monitoring of ECDIS dur- ing docking procedures. Integrating Today with Tomorrow

Sperry Marine developed the TabletBridge in response One of the major challenges was to work in the space to queries from a long term passenger vessel customer to between the regulated front of bridge and the less regu- provide visibility of the Electronic Chart Display and Safety lated back of bridge where more standard IT systems are

System (ECDIS) to navigators positioned on the bridge often found. The integration process involved bringing wings during vessel docking. Previously, this involved a ? xed equipment not originally designed for the marine market console on the bridge wing which did not meet the needs into the bridge environment and making sure it complied of all navigators. Taking the concept a step further, Sperry with all safety and security requirements. That’s because, proposed a solution that could open up new possibilities for despite being a read-only device, TabletBridge’s display of monitoring position data from anywhere on the vessel. Electronic Navigation Charts means it could be considered

Making the project a reality required satisfying both class as critical equipment by some regulatory bodies. Like any society requirements and the need for cyber safety. Passen- other piece of Sperry equipment, installation was carried ger vessels often negotiate berth approach and docking in out by its dedicated team and the tablets are backed by congested waters, con? ned fairways and bright sunlight, so support from the company’s global service network.

there is a real need for a portable ECDIS unit that can be TabletBridge is a component of Sperry’s New Generation easily read from multiple locations and different weather Bridge (NGB) concept which is transforming the way that conditions. According to Sperry, it’s far better to be standing navigators and shoreside teams work and interact, blend- in the right place and also have access to a screen if needed.” ing state of the art shipboard systems with data analytics to improve voyage planning, execution and analysis. For ex-

Cyber Certi? ed ample, the system takes advantage of the infrastructure that

Sperry Marine designed the TabletBridge installation to is driving the increased transfer of real time navigation data provide the same ECDIS view on up to four separate units and radar visualization off the ship and into the owners’ accessible in different locations, using a ruggedized tablet operation and control centers. It also follows the broader with strong cyber security, and connected to a private wire- trend of mobile functionality in the workplace. Says Sperry, less network. The tablets underwent three layers of cyber it used to be the case that we sat behind screens at our desks, hardening, including locking down the operating system now we are used to working on the move. and hardware functionality, securing the con? guration and The ability to take bridge functionality out of the ? xed access to the Wi-Fi access point and maintaining the airgap hardware array and place it into the hands of crew or the between the Wi-Fi network and the navigation network. master is a logical step in a process that will see navigation

At present, in order to meet Sperry Marine’s internal cy- become more mobile and interactive as digitalization on ber standards and satisfy class regulations, TabletBridge is a the waterfront not only takes hold, but also becomes avail- read-only device for accessing the navigation system screens able to a broader set of users.

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