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Although its name suggests that it has two main priorities, Damen Naval’s Research and Development (R&D) department actually has a third, equally significant, task. This is the communication and launch of new ideas and products to naval customers. It was with this in mind that Damen Naval attended the DWT Marineworkshop trade fair in Linstow, Germany at the end of September. DWT is the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Wehrtechnik, known in English as the German Association for Defence Technology.
“This was the fourth time that Damen Naval was present at the DWT Marineworkshop, but this time was different,” says Alwin van Bree, Proposal Engineer ILS & Services at Damen Naval. “This time, instead of networking from our stand, we decided that we should do something more active, in order to get a bit more exposure in the German Defence market.”
To this end, Alwin was asked to present one of Damen Naval’s latest R&D concepts to the attendees of the DWT trade fair. “This was to introduce IHUMS to the German market,” explains Alwin. “We are already cooperating with the Royal Netherlands Navy on this, developing it for the ASWF and CSS programmes, but of course we want to look outside the borders of the Netherlands towards the German market too.”
Alwin first gave a one-minute 'elevator pitch' about his poster presentation to all 600 attendees of the fair.
IHUMS stands for Intelligent Health and Usage Monitoring System. This is an intelligent condition monitoring system that has been developed in close cooperation with the external company ILIAS Solutions. “Non-availability of ships due to system malfunctions is a big issue for our customers,” says Alwin. “IHUMS brings about the shift from preventive maintenance to predictive maintenance using intelligent algorithms to look at the failure data that is generated on board a ship. ILIAS already uses IHUMS for the Air Force’s F35 squadrons. We are collaborating with ILIAS to develop it specifically for the naval market.”
"All in all, it can be said that Damen Naval’s presence at the DWT 2022 was a success.” Alwin van Bree
IHUMS uses its ‘intelligent algorithms’ to transform ship sensor data into relevant information regarding maintenance, to propose new maintenance tasks based on past malfunctions. It is Damen Naval’s aim to use IHUMS to fine-tune maintenance intervals; lengthening or shortening them to generate more efficient maintenance programmes and therefore increase a ship’s operational availability and reduce life cycle costs.
IHUMS brings about the shift from preventive maintenance to predictive maintenance using intelligent algorithms.
The sensor data are sourced from “the usual suspects” says Alwin. “The Combat Management System is an obvious one, as is the Platform and Bridge Management System; these systems constitute the core of the ship.” Sensor data provides a vast array of information on parameters such as temperature, pressure, vibration and operational hours. “And because IHUMS uses intelligent algorithms, the more data you have, the better the predictions will be. Similarly, the more ships that IHUMS is installed on, the richer your database. Possible IPR [Intellectual Property rights] issues from our supplier base on one hand and the willingness of sharing operational data by our customer on the other hand are future challenges to tackle.”
In the case of a new-build vessel, IHUMS would be implemented during the engineering phase. “We would perform a functional risk analysis to look at certain (critical) functions of the ship. And more specifically, the availability of a certain function if a system that contributes to that function fails,” notes Alwin. “We want to develop it in a transparent way with the Dutch Navy, they know their assets and how to operate them. We will support them in increasing their ships’ operational availability and reducing life cycle costs.”
The poster presentations during the DWT Marineworkshop increased Damen Naval’s exposure in the German defence market.
Back to the DWT trade fair: what did ‘being more active’ mean to Alwin? “I gave four poster presentations about IHUMS. However, due to the time constraints of the event, the people presenting their posters first had to give a one-minute ‘elevator pitch’ to all 600 attendees of the fair. If people were enthused by the pitch, then they would come to your poster presentation. This was new for me, and to be honest, especially talking in such technical German for a huge crowd, it was a bit out of my comfort zone.” Alwin concludes: “After the poster presentations, which were luckily followed by a relatively big crowd, there was time for an interactive discussion. A good interaction followed with attendees varying from politicians, staff and employees from the German Navy, German shipyards and the German maritime industry. All in all, it can be said that Damen Naval’s presence at the DWT 2022 was a success.”