Reference : Machine control solutions

I. CUSTOMER ENVIRONMENT / PROJECT CONTEXT

Customer profile:

A 300 ft. mega yacht sails through the quiet calm of the Caribbean Sea. The captain, who has temporarily stepped away from the control room, receives an balarm notification on his Apple® iPadTM from the ship's monitoring and control system, SiMON, that one of the generators is experiencing a fault. He quickly contacts a crew member to investigate the potential problem.

Today's mega yachts, typically defined as yachts larger than 100 ft., boast luxury features such as multiple swimming pools, Jacuzzis, a beauty salon, massage room and library. The largest of the mega yachts even incorporate helicopter landing pads. And with owners who have titles like Sheik, Sultan, King and Crown Prince, not to mention the unknown multibillionaires, it's only fitting that the ships' monitoring and control system be connected to what is becoming a technology staple - the iPad.

Mega yachts are a case study in modernity. They are equipped with the very latest technology and extravagance. Palladium Technologies (Fort Lauderdale, FL) is the maker of the SiMON system. According to the company president, Mike Blake, Palladium has been on the "bleeding edge" of hardware and software technologies to meet the complex monitoring and control requirements of mega yachts since 1991 - a requirement of the industry.

"Palladium is a technology innovator," Blake said. "We provide total technology solutions for the marine industry, and we place great importance on integration. We want our integrated yacht management systems to be universally recognized as the benchmark by which other systems are measured." 

Blake, who has more than 42 years of experience in software development, brought his expertise to the marine industry after retiring early and sailing the world for 12 years. He developed the SiMON system for his own yacht out of boredom. To say he's a techie is an understatement. The SiMON system is Palladium's flagship product. Thousands of sensors throughout a vessel are connected to the SiMON system, which serves as a virtual engineer, on duty around the clock, constantly vigilant of all critical functions. SiMON allows the captain to focus on the demands associated with navigating and managing a modern vessel.

Customer objective and constraints:

Palladium knew they were coming to an end of life with their current Programmable Logic Controller (PLC). Not only did the company believe the PLCs were going to be discontinued, but they were reaching the hardware's maximum capacity. In addition, the manufacturer was not providing any design support or moving forward with more sophisticated development tools, which stymied
Palladium's ability to develop new solutions. Palladium was looking for a PLC that communicated on an Ethernet UDP platform. The company originally chose this protocol because it has more plug and play capability, redundancy and expansion than other communication protocols. Plus, no one else is developing on this platform - a competitive advantage for Palladium. The problem was that no one was making a controller that used Ethernet UDP. To change communication protocols would mean that the company would have to redesign their systems in a more restrictive fashion - something Blake wasn't interested in doing.

"We did not want to stray from the Ethernet UDP path, because that would have meant less flexibility for us, and our customers," Blake said.

II. SOLUTION IMPLEMENTATION

EcoStruxure

• Process & Machines management
• General machines control

Solution overview (services, products, systems, architectures…):

It wasn't until 2009 when Schneider Electric, one of the world's leading suppliers of power, control and automation solutions, presented its Modicon® M258TM PLC in beta fashion did Blake think he might have found a solution.

The Modicon M258 is the newest compact and expandable PLC from Schneider Electric, and the only PLC on the market to communicate using Ethernet UDP. The M258 PLC is programmed with SoMachine® software, the first programming software that allows users to design, commission and maintain the logic for drive, motion and HMI controllers in a single environment. It simplifies machine development and commercialization so users can get products to market faster.

The M258 PLC and SoMachine software are part of Schneider Electric's MachineStruxureTM offer, which helps users design integrated, energy-efficient and cost-effective installations, while maximizing performance. Based on tested, validated and documented architectures, MachineStruxure incorporates flexible and scalable hardware platforms with SoMachine software, a comprehensive single software suite with application function block libraries.

As the full capability of the Modicon® M258 PLC became clearer, Blake realized that the PLC not only offered a solution for the SiMON system, but for Palladium's entire product mix, including its
electrical switchboards, bridge, lighting control and in-depth security systems, as well as its custom hydraulic and integrated helm systems. Palladium even wanted to use the PLC for its new SiMON2 systems which are targeted for smaller production yachts.

For Palladium, the appeal of having one common PLC for its entire product line was huge. Having a universal solution that worked with all products helped Palladium uphold its mission of being a complete, integrated technology provider, and helped them save time and money.

III. RESULTS / ACHIEVEMENT

Customer benefits:

After an exhaustive 12-15 month evaluation process of various companies and solution scenarios, Palladium ultimately chose to partner with Schneider Electric.

"I believe that partnerships are very important," Blake said. "I don't like to use a lot of vendors because it creates disjointed solutions. It's more important to develop a monogamous relationship where we all move forward together. We can rely on support from both sides and be assured that our needs can be addressed within the Schneider Electric family
of products."

For Blake, the data transmission capability of the Modicon M258 PLC and open-endedness of the SoMachine software offered Palladium's path to the future. While competitors are hindered by their current technology, Palladium now has the ability to easily expand its development work, and implement advanced functionality ideas much faster.

"In 42 years of software development, I find SoMachine software to be one of the best development tools I've come across in a long time," Blake said. "It allows us to develop more sophisticated applications and respond to customer needs faster. I don't think we can take advantage of SoMachine as fast as Schneider Electric is
developing it."

Blake also liked that the SoMachine software transcends many different product types, is robust, and highly supportable.

"SoMachine really is one of the most incredible development tools I've seen," Blake continued. "Productivity is important. Supportability is equally important. Since SoMachine is a cross-compiler type system, it allows us to develop in one or more languages to support our entire product line. We can do more programming in less time."

Schneider Electric differentiating values VS competitors:

According to Blake, it wasn't just Schneider Electric's hardware and software that convinced him to partner with Schneider Electric. Due to Palladium's global market demands, he also placed significant emphasis on Schneider Electric's responsiveness and global reach.

"Time and again, we presented Schneider Electric with a requirement and they researched it, addressed it and we felt comfortable moving forward," Blake said. "Schneider Electric's technical expertise, persistence and depth of resources were beyond any other vendor. They found solutions and never gave up. I think that's very impressive."

For example, unlike Schneider Electric's other products, including HMIs and VFDs, the M258 PLC did not have any marine certifications when it initially was introduced. Without certifications, Palladium could not consider it for their application. To move forward, the M258 had to be certified by the American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) at a minimum. The engineers in Schneider Electric's OEM
Technology and Solutions Center (TaSC) group in Raleigh, N.C., took it upon themselves to achieve the ABS rating, and are moving forward to gain Det Norske Veritas (DNV) and Lloyds Register of
Shipping (LR) approvals as well.

According to Blake, the back office support from a group like the OEM TaSC is incredibly important because it helps companies like Palladium bring their product to market faster.

"To have the resources and experience of a global company like Schneider Electric at your disposal is invaluable," Blake said. "The people at Schneider Electric were fully invested in helping us develop our product."

Indeed, Schneider Electric's depth and global reach was an attractive attribute for Blake as he considered partners.

"Our systems are on yachts that do not stay in one place - they travel the world," Blake said.
"Schneider Electric can provide support in Asia, South America, and every point in between. To have a service organization that we can call on worldwide is very powerful."

IV. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Future of the cooperation with the customer:

Just as Palladium's customers demanded integration with Apple products, the company intends to continue embracing technology by developing new innovations that will make this year's iPad look like yesterday's laptop.

Other information

As a beta tester for mobile Apple applications, including the iPhone and iPod touch®, Palladium created the iSiMON app in 2009, giving the captain and crew instantaneous mobile capability by allowing direct remote viewing of the ship's engines, generators, tanks, bilge levels, etc., from anywhere on board. All alarms in the SiMON system also provide instant notification on an iPhone or iPod touch. In 2009, Palladium's iSiMON received a DAME award, a prestigious design award given at the Marine Equipment Trade Show, for the product's innovation in marine-related software. Next up for Palladium is the launch of its SiMON2 product which will bring the monitoring and control capabilities of the flagship SiMON product to the smaller production yachts, typically between 35 and 90 ft. The SiMON2 product has been on the development board for four years, but Palladium lacked the appropriate hardware and platform to roll it out. The M258 PLC's dual processors, as well as the release of the iPad platform, have allowed Palladium to finally bring the product to market. SiMON2 was designed to work exclusively on the iPad and provides much of the functionality of the larger SiMON, but with a brand new interface. SiMON2 uses WiFi technology to communicate with the M258 controllers which interface with the ship's critical equipment. SiMON2 allows the crew to monitor and control the vessel from anywhere on board using one or many iPad mobile devices for ultimate flexibility.