Self-configurable Distributed Control Networks on Naval Ships

One significant challenge the Royal Netherlands Navy is facing is how to increase the ship's response capabilities to calamities. In our view, self-configuring distributed control networks are required to reach this goal. TNO-FEL, in cooperation with the Royal Netherlands Navy researches such an automated robust ship control system. The researched system consists of autonomous control clusters of sensors and actuators. This novel system makes decisions autonomously, independent of a human operator, based on the information it gathers about its environment. In case of a calamity, it reconfigures itself. For example, when leaks are detected in a fluid system, the flow is automatically rerouted and if needed additional pumps are activated. Furthermore, our approach does not depend on a centralized Ship Control Center. Consequently, it is robust against both Ship Control Center and communication infrastructure failures. Clusters isolated from the rest of the system will still be able to limit autonomously the impact of a calamity. Hence, a distributed control network increases the robustness of ship control systems, improves the reaction time in case of calamities and reduces the required manpower for emergency recovery. This paper focuses on the technology required to realize robust selfconfigurable distributed control networks for naval ships.