Automation solutions provider Bachmann Electronic and software framework provider Real-Time Innovations (RTI) have announced a partnership to enable and support Industry 4.0 through high-performance, cross-vendor interoperability without a gateway.
The pair will collaboratively provide secure, reliable connectivity from edge to cloud for real-time data exchange regardless of vendor, platform or domain, to benefit autonomous shipping and other industrial use cases.
Bachmann is to provide users of its M1 Controller System with a customized Connext software framework to enable a flexible platform for automation projects.
Maritime automation products developer Blue Ctrl believes this cooperation will be positive for the maritime industry. “Blue Ctrl develops and delivers future-oriented, reliable marine automation products based on the X-Connect platform,” explained the company’s senior development engineer, Ronny Hamre. “X-Connect has been using RTI Connext DDS [Data Distribution Service] as its communication middleware for many years and supports controllers from Bachmann as external information gateways.
“Systems based on X-Connect have been successfully delivered on more than 50 ships, ranging from small aquaculture support vessels to large cable-laying vessels and cruise ships. Blue Ctrl believes that this partnership between RTI and Bachmann will not only make it easier to use Bachmann hardware in X-Connect products but also make it easier for the maritime industry to gain access to data through future-oriented smart protocols, such as DDS.”
The RTI Connext system is based on the DDS standard and offers capabilities designed for demanding distributed computing environments. The company also offers services and support to help architect a futureproof system that offers massive scalability and minimizes project risk.
The partnership aims to deliver a successful solution to customers in the maritime industry who require a secure connectivity framework for diagnostics and data center applications.
“Together, RTI and Bachmann are helping marine operators enable safe, reliable and massively scalable remote operations across platforms – making it uniquely suitable for remote operation of autonomous systems,” commented Ronald Epskamp, head of maritime at Bachmann Electronic. “This announcement builds on the work that we initiated in 2016. We are pleased that our maritime-approved controller system with its full range of benefits has now been integrated into RTI’s standard Connext DDS software.”
