
PC-based control for the marine industry


Increased comfort and reduced energy consumption in ship cabines
Cunard Cruise Lines, U.K.

Headquarters United States
Beckhoff Automation LLC
+1 952-890-0000
beckhoff.usa@beckhoff.com
www.beckhoffautomation.com
Cunard Cruise Lines, U.K.
On board of ships, automation requirements vary greatly, depending on the type and the purpose of the vessel, and ranging from the control of operational facilities and engines to cargo handling systems. Passenger and cruise ships, on the other hand, also require traditional building automation functions such as individual room control for passenger cabins. The challenge for suppliers in shipbuilding is to implement all these different automation applications without having to integrate different dedicated control systems. Due to its scalability, modularity, open interfaces and use of communication standards, the PC-based automation platform from Beckhoff can be flexibly adapted to the respective application. In addition to the PLC, it integrates visualization, measurement technology, motor monitoring and condition monitoring, and can be used for central or local control.
The Beckhoff Bus Terminal I/O toolkit offers modules for all common lighting types, including LED lighting, universal dimmers up to 600 VA or light switching up to 16 A per output. Lighting control via DALI, DMX, EIB/KNX or LON is also possible using communication terminals. TwinCAT includes extensive software components for tasks such as constant lighting or automatic control.
Bus Terminals are available for temperature measurement, weather sensors, actuators, valves, pressure measurement or integration of HVAC sensors via M-Bus, MP-Bus, LON or EIB/KNX. BACnet or Modbus can be used to integrate peripheral devices such as actuators for flow control, volume flow display and alarm messages into the control platform.
The Beckhoff system enables configuration of modular Bus Terminal stations to match the application and task at hand. The compact BC9191 single room controller offers a cost-effective alternative for individual room control. It features pre-installed standard functionalities covering all the functions required for individual room control, thereby simplifying commissioning.
Beckhoff offers compact control solutions for manufacturers of ballast tank cleaning systems, consisting of an Embedded Controller with a fieldbus or integrated Bus Terminal interface. The system enables the realization of all the required measuring and control tasks, including measurement/logging of the water conditions, and control of disinfectant draining, among other functions.
Machine control requires monitoring of numerous process parameters. The corresponding data points are logged via decentralized Bus Terminal stations and transferred to the central controller through the fieldbus. Alternatively, the EtherCAT plug-in modules of the EJ series from Beckhoff are available for series applications involving large production quantities.