Illuminated Marine Vessel Covers for Fast Component Location
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing marine vessel systems fail to effectively communicate which components require attention and their locations, leading to ambiguity and inefficiency in locating components, especially in larger and more complex vessels.
Innovation Solution
A system with a cover that includes a light element operable to change its appearance based on input, assisted by a controller to indicate components needing attention, using light elements on covers to highlight their location.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If traditional marine vessel systems are used without visual indicators on covers, then the system complexity remains low, but the time and effort required to locate components requiring attention increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies color changes by using light elements that illuminate covers in different colors to indicate the status of components beneath them. When a component requires attention, the corresponding cover illuminates in a distinctive color (e.g., red or yellow), providing immediate visual information to operators about which components need attention, thereby dramatically reducing the time to locate problematic components without requiring complex diagnostic procedures
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service by allowing covers to automatically indicate their own status through illumination. Each cover is equipped with a light element that autonomously activates based on the status of the component it covers, eliminating the need for operators to manually check or query each component's status, thus reducing both time and effort while maintaining relatively simple system architecture
2Ease of operation
If light elements are added to covers to indicate component status, then the clarity and speed of component identification improves, but the device complexity and manufacturing cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the marine vessel's component monitoring system into independent modular units, where each cover is an autonomous module with its own light element and status indication capability. This segmentation allows each cover to function independently, making the system easier to manufacture, install, and maintain, while collectively providing comprehensive visual guidance across the entire vessel without requiring a complex centralized control system
Solution Approach 2:
The cover design incorporates multi-functionality by combining the protective covering function with the visual indication function in a single integrated component. The light element is integrated into the cover structure itself, allowing the cover to serve both its traditional protective role and its new role as an active visual indicator, thereby improving ease of operation without adding separate dedicated indication devices that would increase system complexity
3Measurement precision
If multiple light elements are distributed across multiple covers, then the precision of component location information improves, but the manufacturing complexity and cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by creating standardized modular cover units, each with an integrated light element, that can be independently manufactured and then assembled onto the marine vessel. This modular approach allows for standardized manufacturing processes that reduce complexity and cost, while still enabling precise location identification of multiple different components across the vessel through the distributed network of identical or similar modular units
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses parameter changes in the form of variable light output characteristics (color, intensity, blinking patterns) from the light elements to encode different component statuses and types. This allows a single standardized cover design with a programmable light element to provide precise information about multiple different component conditions, reducing the need for physically different cover designs and thereby simplifying manufacturing while maintaining high precision in component location and status identification
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Facilitates rapid and clear identification of components requiring attention, reducing the time and effort required by operators to locate them, even in complex marine vessels.
Implementation Method 1
A light element is operable to change an appearance of the external surface thereof
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for assisting an operator of a marine vessel. The system includes a cover that covers a portion of the marine vessel, the cover having an external surface. A light element is operable to change an appearance of the external surface thereof. A controller is operatively coupled to the light element. The controller is configured to receive an input indicating that attention is recommended for a component, to determine whether the component is proximate to the cover, and, when the component is determined to be proximate to the cover, to operate the light element to change the appearance of the cover to thereby assist the operator in locating the component for which attention is recommended.