Rugged Tablets for Ship Inspection and Maintenance: HAT Analytics Case Study
Ship inspections are expensive because of what they stop. A large detection project takes time, and until it is finished the vessel stays out of service – and every day alongside is a day of charter income lost. Add salt spray and the maintenance cost of the inspection equipment itself starts to matter as much as the inspection.
HAT Analytics Solutions built a digital health monitoring system to shorten that cycle. The system needed a shipboard terminal that could run its analysis software, connect to wearable sensors, and survive the marine environment. HAT selected the TERVEX I10J, a 10.1-inch Windows rugged tablet.
Challenge: Long Downtime, Heavy Workload and Salt-Spray Damage
The detection project involves a large amount of work and takes a long time, and the ship has to be shut down before the detection is completed.
On top of the schedule pressure, a large amount of salt spray invasion raises the maintenance cost of the equipment used to carry out the inspection - which is exactly the environment that destroys ordinary tablets and their connectors.
Engineers also needed their findings captured in a form the office could use immediately, rather than on paper that has to be typed up after the vessel sails.
Solution: I10J Tablets With the HAT Digital Health Monitoring System
The I10J is compatible with the HAT digital health monitoring system, so detection and maintenance work runs faster on a single shipboard device.
Combined with HAT software, the tablet performs real-time monitoring of the wearable sensors and transmits the detection content to the cloud as it is collected, which removes the delay between measuring a machine and reporting its condition.
When a maintenance or repair need appears, drawings can be accessed with one click for real-time repair guidance, and abnormal situations can be photographed and archived on the spot.
The equipment has passed the salt spray test and holds waterproof and dustproof certification to the US military MIL-STD-810G standard and IP65 - the specification that decides whether a tablet is still working at the end of a refit period.
Results: Shorter Survey Cycles, One-Click Drawings, Photo Evidence
Combining the I10J rugged tablet with the HAT system delivers real-time monitoring and data transmission of ship equipment, shortening the inspection and maintenance cycle that keeps the vessel out of service.
Workers reach drawings and real-time maintenance guidance with one click, which makes maintenance work more accurate and efficient and reduces the risk of misoperation on equipment where a wrong step is expensive.
Photographs of abnormal situations are archived as they are found, giving the engineering team evidence to analyse and improve the problem later - and giving the shipowner a dated record that the inspection actually happened.
