Applications Marine & Offshore | Bachmann electronic GmbH

Always on the right course

Powerful ship control with the Bachmann M1 System

Schottel GmbH | 56322 Spay/Rhein | Germany

2

Applications Marine & Offshore | Bachmann electronic GmbH

With over 800 employees worldwide, the company produces different rudder and con-trol systems. Their product line includes many propulsion systems from transverse thrusters with outputs of up to 1.4 MW, to rudder propel-lers with outputs of up to 6 MW all the way to complete propulsion systems with outputs of as much as 30 MW. A while back, Schottel decided to expand and optimize their joystick maneuver system »Masterstick«. The reason for this was the increased requirements placed on the com-puting and processing speed of the controller and the ensuing necessity for higher computing power. This was not possible with the system they were using up to that point.

Masterstick – a simple way to steer a ship

The Masterstick is a control system that can control up to 6 ship propulsion systems at the

same time. The drive thrust and ship’s direction are controlled in combination by a joystick. The ship’s direction of movement is a result of the movement of the joystick. The degree of defl ec-tion determines the thrust. Using an operator console (panel) the captain can select different drive and control modes as well as other op-tions. The console also serves to provide the captain with different visual information.

Performance – Robustness – Openness

The requirements placed on the new system were very high. After intensive searching and comprehensive tests, Schottel decided to go with Bachmann’s M1 System. “The high compu-ting power, the compact and robust design and the total openness of the M1 System were the deciding factors for us,” says Christian Böttinger, the Masterstick project manager at Schottel.

For over 50 years Schottel has been developing and producing azimuthing propulsion and maneuvering systems for ships of most any size, purpose and waters. The continual tech-nological development of their products, their reputation for providing the highest quali-ty, their worldwide presence and customer focus have made Schottel the market leader in the fi eld of propulsion systems for ships. In order to meet the rising demands on the control systems, Schottel has recently started using the Bachmann M1 System.

The Masterstick: simultaneously steers six ship drives

3

Schottel GmbH

This allowed for a quick migration, resulting in a large saving in time and costs. The com-plex controllers that already existed in C-Code could be integrated into the software of the new controller simply and quickly without any major changes.

High computing power required

A further challenge to the ship’s steering is the implementation of the extremely complex and computing-intensive controller for the “Auto-heading” function that automatically maintains the ships direction. To do this a quick and precise piloting of the drives is required that permanently reads and calculates information from a compass that is attached to the auto-mation system. The results from the calculation

are then continually transferred in turn to the manually preset course so that the selected course is always held. The diffi culty with all of this is in assigning the manipulated variables to the drives in real-time, according to the ship and drive specifi c parameters. To do this the drive’s actual values like the steering angle, pitch signal (the propellers’ pitch-control) or the rotation speed must be taken into account in the calcula-tions at all times.

The control of the port and starboard swaying of tugboats presents a similarly complex problem. This too requires real-time computing power. If a drive fails, an optimal heading must still be precisely and quickly determined, especially when towing ships for example into a harbor which requires an extremely high degree of maneuver ability.

The high performance and the large interface possibilities allow for an extra-ordinarily compact assembly of the ships control system.

Ship ethernet (LAN)

connector plug

router

Main Panel (group 1)

PS Panel (group 2)

STB Panel (group 3)

AFT Panel (group 4)

CAN

CAN CAN

24V DI

CAN

RS232/RS485

RS232/RS485

LAN

Portable Panel (group 5)

Visualisation MasterstickWind sensorGyro Compass

Switchbox 1 Switchbox 2 Switchbox 3 Switchbox 4 Switchbox 5 Switchbox 6

1 2 3

Global propulsion CAN system

4

Applications Marine & Offshore | Bachmann electronic GmbH

Bachmann electronic GmbH | Kreuzäckerweg 33 | 6800 Feldkirch | Austria | www.bachmann.info | V1.0

Impressive range of features

The extensive array of interfaces on the MX213 CPU allow an extremely slim design of the required controller hardware. This allows the compass to be directly connected to the CPU via one of the integrated RS232 interfaces. Because the processor module can operate up to eight different CAN buses, the six important drive systems can also be operated directly without further intelligence.

The integrated web functionality of Bachmann’s CPU also impressed Schottel. “We were thrilled with how fast visualizations could be generated and saved to the processor module’s compact fl ash card as a ‘Java applet’ using Bachmann’s SolutionCenter” says project leader Böttinger.

With systems that are not equipped with a touch panel, a standard web browser allows for access to these applets. “These access possibilities, the offered safety standards right up to the SSL encryption also greatly ease and simplify remote maintenance,” Christian Böttinger adds.

Brilliant functionality

Beside the high performance, selection of inter-faces and robustness of the system, the Schottel engineers are greatly thankful for the “Solution-Center” high performance engineering tool. It enabled the “Masterstick” project to be imple-mented onto a standard controller system within a very short time. The deciding advantage came with the ability to effi ciently and smoothly port Schottel’s core competence in terms of control technology to the M1 Controller. The informa-tion already existed in an array of tried and tested C programmed controller program blocks. Schottel’s control engineers were also impressed by the integration of MATLAB®/Simulink® into the M1 System, which dramatically saved time during calibration.

“Last but not least, the excellent and competent customer and application support from Bach-mann engineers, proved to us that our decision to go with the M1 System was the right one,” sums up Stefan Buch, manager of Electric and Electronic Development at Schottel.