Wireless Internet of Things connectivity platform for complex steel environments

Offentlig prosjektsammendrag

The maritime and offshore industries are facing a strong need for increased connectivity onboard and between vessel and land, but they are currently lacking viable options. ScanReach, a maritime IoT company, is developing a game-changing technology that, for the first time, enables effective wireless communication in confined steel environments eliminating the need for costly and complex cabling onboard. Our vision is to increase safety and operational excellence at vessels and offshore installations. The core technology ScanReach is a novel mesh network, which enables wireless connectivity on board vessels and other confined steel environments. This is enabled through a smart, low-power radio (mesh node) which has two major tasks: to collect data and location from connected tags, and to transport this data wirelessly throughout the complete mesh network all the way to the gateway/edge computer. This technology opens the door to a wide range of IoT applications onboard vessels and rigs, such as tracking of personnel and equipment/assets, environmental sensor readings, and integration of third-party sensors into our platform. The front-runner solution in the ScanReach portfolio is an instant personnel on-board control (POB) which enables real-time tracking of crew-members, allowing immediate and high precision rescue team involvement. A minimum viable product (MVP) was developed in 2020 which is able to operate with up to 200 users on smaller vessels. In 2021-2022 this will be scaled up to a capacity of 2000 users, while also enabling the system to handle more complex steel environments and constructions such as oil rigs and offshore windmill parks. Beyond this, it is our intention that the mesh network will serve as an enabling technology for other maritime IoT solutions and to utilize the data collected to improve onboard safety and performance.