Reliable networking solutions for ABN Amro Yacht

Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team Jul 27, 2006

The ABN Amro one yacht has successfully employed Digi International onboard networking solutions for the length of the 2005/2006 Volvo ocean race.

The ABN Amro One yacht has successfully employed Digi International onboard networking solutions for the length of the 2005/2006 Volvo Ocean Race.

ABN Amro One, which finished first in the race, successfully utilised two Digi Hubport/7 DC USB hubs and two Digi Edgeport/8 USB-to-serial convertors onboard to provide reliable navigation support and networking solutions for the race.

The Volvo Ocean Race is the world's longest ocean race, at over 30,000 miles long, calling at nine ports worldwide and taking over seven months to complete.

The race is physically and mentally challenging as participants have to live in close quarters for up to a month at a time, with 10 crewmen per boat, no beds, no kitchen, no chairs and only one toilet.

Considering space is at such a premium and the conditions onboard are so demanding, equipment on ABN Amro One needed to be compact, reliable and robust.

Navigation in modern times is less about actually determining position than it is about weather prediction and selecting the fastest course.

This requires many types of equipment including a global positioning system, communications equipment, and weather monitoring technology.

Given the limited amount of space onboard and the fact that ABN Amro One only had a small diesel generator to charge batteries, it was essential that networking equipment be as efficient with space and power as possible.

Stan Honey, navigator of ABN Amro One, needed a networking solution that would be reliable, easy to configure, and be both power and space efficient.

Given these user requirements, two Digi Hubport/7 DC hubs and two Edgeport/8 convertors were selected to meet ABN Amro One's networking requirements.

When describing his reasoning for selecting Digi networking solutions for use onboard ABN Amro One, Honey indicated that it was the products' proven reliability that most appealed to him.

He stated, "I have been aware of Digi for some time now and have used their products in the past with success".

"I have found that Digi networking products consistently perform well and most importantly in an around the world yacht race, they have always been reliable".

As an out-of-the-box (external) alternative to PCI cards, the Digi Edgeport/8 connects via USB to a PC or server to provide eight serial ports.

By simply plugging in two Edgeport/8 units, ABM Amro One gained 16 serial ports in a matter of minutes without opening the PC's chassis, reconfiguring and rebooting.

The ability to use 16 serial ports allowed for greater networking flexibility onboard ABN Amro One.

This was essential as the situation and networking requirements at sea can change, and it could have been necessary to alternate or add additional equipment.

While Digi's Edgeport USB-to-serial convertors offer an easy Plug and Play solution for COM port expansion, it was the ability to disable the Plug and Play function that interested Stan Honey.

The ability to disengage Plug and Play allowed Stan to customise the equipment to the unique specifications necessary on the yacht and to prevent Windows from misinterpreting GPS NMEA strings as serial mouse data.

ABN Amro One also chose two Hubport/7 DC hubs for application onboard the yacht.

The Hubport/7 DC offers an external, user installable solution that plugs into an existing USB port to provide seven additional USB ports for instant peripheral device connectivity.

The Hubport/7 DC also comes with a fixed power wire, which is essential onboard a yacht competing in the Volvo Ocean Race, as any navigator would not want the power being pulled during rough periods at sea.

The limited power onboard ABN Amro One was provided by a diesel generator and batteries.

Importantly for ABN Amro One, the Hubport/7 DC could run directly off 24 volts DC, thus conserving energy and avoiding the requirement for a DC to DC convertor.

Energy is at a premium on the long voyages involved in the Volvo Ocean Race.

The Volvo Ocean Race began in Sanxenxo, Spain November 5, 2005, and completed June 17, 2006 in Gothenburg, Sweden.

ABN Amro One finished the race in first place by a comfortable margin.