This thread is for you saltwater types.

[trix]

I'm looking for advice, and since I know that there is at least one person here (ECH) with saltwater in the veins, I'm thinking this might be an okay place to ask.

I don't know much about boats, ships, yachts, and the like.  I've never even sailed before.  I haven't been lucky enough to know anyone that can afford a boat.  Yet, for some odd reason I've never been able to put my finger on, I've been obsessed with boats for years and years.  Maybe it's the dream to get away from it all, or maybe I've just seen too many movies.  Either way, when I enrolled into college, I did so with the intent to learn to build boats, but also with a big interest in computers and electronics.  However, it's recently occurred to me (two years later) that I don't know much about boats, and dedicating years to an end goal involving something I have only internet-knowledge of, is kind of stupid.  Further, lately, I've been hatching an idea involving the things I am studying, that sounds really good in my head, but without knowing wtf I'm talking about, could be a really stupid idea.  Hence, this thread.

My idea is this.  I am double majoring in electronic engineering, and naval architecture.  These are generally very separate majors, but my idea is to combine them.  I want to implement advanced onboard computer systems, with appropriate software, into boats or ships that I design and build.  I've spent many hours over the last few years looking up the systems on boats and ships, and what they use for navigation and the like.  It seems to me, and please correct me if I'm wrong, that ships still use a lot of old ways of doing things, and could benefit quite a bit from advanced computer systems.  Imagine a bluewater boat, fully equipped with onboard computer systems, sensors, GPS (the good kind), etc, tapped into all of the systems on the ship.  With well-written software to take full advantage.  Imagine an operating system on the computer, using lots of sensors of various types, to tell you when you have a leak, keep track of what level your fresh water tank is at, how long at current usage levels it will last, how much gas you have, the integrity of the hull/pipes/sewage/engine/etc, etc etc.  A computer that could handle most navigation for you.  One connected to weather systems, where you could input your destination and it plans a route (plus a few alternatives) based on weather, traffic, etc.  Basically, make this thing as smart and useful as possible.

This would be a LOT of work, require a whole bunch of sensors and cameras, and would have the greatest advantage on a boat built and designed to be integrated with a system like this.  Sort of like a sea-going Enterprise.

How far fetched does this idea seem?

[Richter]

It would definitely have applications for oil tankers, freighters, etc.  Lots of them already exist to a degree.  Maps and GPS were one of the first to get integrated, and I wouldn't be surprised if many could overlay the ship's radar and depth sounder onto that.  Is there room to do that better, smarter and cleaner?  Always, you just need to find a good new angle to add on it as far as function or useability. 
As far as more integration, I'd look at what that integration is going to do over existing methods.

Having done all my ocean - going on smaller vessels, I can't speak to your points about leaks or hull integrity. 
Are you sinking?  Look at the waterline and in the bilge.  Check through - hulls and hoses.
Is the hull compromised?  Check if you hit anything and see above. 

You could certainly pitch it to luxury yacht builders though.  A "Check everything on your boat from an Android app" is the sort of thing that someone would drop the money on if it is an option with their new floating money pit.

[BabylonHoruv]

I've been on boats an awful lot as well, but as with Richter it's been mostly smaller ones.  The bigger ones were all ferry boats and thus someone else's responsibility.

I can't see these sort of systems being much use for smaller vessels, although possibly on relatively small commercial fishing boats and crabbers and such.  They use a lot of electronics as it is.  They are more for external measurements than internal management though.  They definitely do include GPS and charting software already and did 15 or so years ago when I was actually spending time on commercial fishing boats so they are probably considerably more advanced now.

The amount of sensors required to detect leaks seems like it might be counterproductive from a cost standpoint, on a fishing boat eyeballing it is generally as much as is needed, basically the process Richter described.  And of course all those sensors would degrade and need to be replaced, saltwater is pretty hard on electronics.

[rong]

I think it would be cool if the giant ore boats and such had sensors that could tell how much the boat was flexing.  Maybe they already do?  that's how most of my ideas go.

I would also imagine the naval industry is pretty set in its ways.

[trix]

Hmm, good points.  I still think there might be some things I could improve, though precisely what, I'd probably have to live on a boat for a couple years to discover.  As for degrading sensors and expense at checking for leaks, I was thinking more of just having a thin net of wiring built right into the hull, since I'd be designing the boats anyway, and that would make it pretty cheap and easy to detect when one or more of the wires in the net are broken.  I could use this to check for rust or other problems as well, by calculating the resistance levels in the net over time.

Granted, by itself, it seems more trouble than it's worth.  I just think a powerful central computer that detects and monitors everything ship-wide could catch a lot of problems early and prevent surprises.  Especially if I take it to the wall and go as far as technology will let me, like installing cameras all around the ship facing out, detecting things above and below the water, as well as the GPS and navigational systems.  Perhaps even a boat that can drive itself safely.  Automated fishing/shrimping.  Built in desalinization systems.  Automatic greenhouse.  Etc, etc.  Sure, this seems far fetched, but none of it is out of reach of modern technology.  Not even close.  It would turn a million dollar yacht into a 2 million dollar yacht, but fuck it, why not?

Alright much of that is pipe dreams.  But I like me some pipe dreams.

[East Coast Hustle]

Believe it or not, there's an app for most of that.

We still have to actually be at the controls to DO something, but almost all of the bridge systems can be monitored on a smartphone. Not so much for the engineering systems, though any that are set to trip an alarm on the bridge when the system exceeds preset parameters will also send the alarm to a smartphone.

All of that said, while fancy state-of-the-art systems are wonderful and can make a mariner's job much easier much of the time, there's no substitute for knowing how to do all that stuff the old-fashioned way when your fancy system inevitably shits the bed while you're 100 miles offshore in a gale.

[BabylonHoruv]

Hmm, good points.  I still think there might be some things I could improve, though precisely what, I'd probably have to live on a boat for a couple years to discover.  As for degrading sensors and expense at checking for leaks, I was thinking more of just having a thin net of wiring built right into the hull, since I'd be designing the boats anyway, and that would make it pretty cheap and easy to detect when one or more of the wires in the net are broken.  I could use this to check for rust or other problems as well, by calculating the resistance levels in the net over time.

Granted, by itself, it seems more trouble than it's worth.  I just think a powerful central computer that detects and monitors everything ship-wide could catch a lot of problems early and prevent surprises.  Especially if I take it to the wall and go as far as technology will let me, like installing cameras all around the ship facing out, detecting things above and below the water, as well as the GPS and navigational systems.  Perhaps even a boat that can drive itself safely.  Automated fishing/shrimping.  Built in desalinization systems.  Automatic greenhouse.  Etc, etc.  Sure, this seems far fetched, but none of it is out of reach of modern technology.  Not even close.  It would turn a million dollar yacht into a 2 million dollar yacht, but fuck it, why not?

Alright much of that is pipe dreams.  But I like me some pipe dreams.

Driving itself is possible to a certain extent.  However I don't think visual recognition software is advanced enough yet to be able to tell a mass of seaweed, which is safe to go through, from a fishing net, which is not.