Voyage Data Recorder (vdr)

The voyage data recorder (VDR) means to maintain a store, in a secure and retrievable form, of information concerning the position, movement, physical status, command and control of vessel over period up to and following an incident. Data is collected from ship systems and stored which can be retrieved for investigation in the event of an incident. Installing a voyage data recording system aboard ships which collects essential data as to the circumstances and origins of an accident will greatly improve the supply of reliable information, thereby facilitating investigations for government authorities and international maritime organization and improving ship safety. The Maritime Black Box product will not only provide an evolutionary and helpful tool for enquires after maritime accidents but also assist seafarer training, thereby enhancing passenger safety and environmental protection. From 1 January, 2002 all ro-ro ferries and high speed craft operating within European Union waters will have to carry a VDR. lMOs NAV Sub-Committee agreed to recommend that VDRs should be mandatory to be carried by passenger ships and ships carrying hazardous cargo such as oil and chemical tankers and gas carriers On 1 July, 2002. With these situations, VDR application will enter to a new stage. The thesis mainly introduces following technical items: (1) Based on papers and messages which have been published, I summarize the development of the VDR in details and divide the VDR into three modules: the paper chart recording system, the electronic chart integrated bridge system and the MBB(maritime black box). (2) According to the international regulations and standards, I put foreword an elemental frame of the VDR which comprises the following three main parts: data acquisition, control part and recording equipment, and introduce minutely function in every part. (3) Based on the VDR open-ended architecture, I design a popular program of the RS-232 serial communication by C++, which can process numerous data from the ship sensors and alarms by I/O multiple serial port card. (4) Comparing with technical characteristics of various store medium and interface, I select MO(magneto optical) disc as store medium, MO disc drive as medium drive and SCSI(small computer system interface) as drive interface. (5) With researching digital sound processor, I put foreword DCT(Discrete Cosine Transform) coding to compress sound based on temporal relativity of sound. (6) The method to collect and store navigation parameters (date, time, heading, speed, position), bridge conversation and data of landmark fixing. (7) The method to retrieve data including sound and navigation parameter. With these technologies supporting, I design a demo system of the VDR which can collect, record and retrieve essential navigation parameter. Liu Ming (Transport Application Engineering) Directed by professor Shi Chaojian...