Software development for the marine sector
Shipboard and desktop applications, fleet cloud platforms, instrument firmware, and integration with shore-side systems, developed to specification and supplied under the customer’s brand where required.
Software and instrumentation for the marine sector
Software development for the marine sector.
DS Engineering develops software for the marine sector: shipboard and desktop applications, fleet cloud platforms, and the firmware within the instruments that supply them. The work is founded on diesel engine performance measurement, where the company has developed the complete chain from sensor to fleet report.
Alongside software development, the company develops pressure analysers for supply under a customer’s own brand, repairs and calibrates DieselScope, Electronic Indicator and older COMPAC instruments in its workshop in Varna, and develops acoustic emission sensors for engine diagnostics.
- Marine software development
- OEM pressure analysers
- Analyser repair & calibration
- Acoustic sensor development
Capabilities
Four areas of work
Software development is the principal activity. OEM analyser development, workshop repair and acoustic sensor development proceed alongside it and are carried out by the same engineers.
OEM pressure analysers
Cylinder pressure analysers developed to specification, or supplied under the customer’s own brand, with firmware, desktop software and cloud as required. The DieselScope and DS Compact instruments form the basis.
Analyser repair and calibration
Workshop repair and calibration of DieselScope, Electronic Indicator and older COMPAC instruments and their pressure sensors, returned with documented test results.
Acoustic sensor development
Acoustic emission sensors designed and produced in house, adding a diagnostic channel that pressure measurement alone does not provide, and adapted to the fault conditions a customer needs to detect.
Benefits
Purpose of the measurement
The software and the instruments serve the same purpose. Engine performance measurement is directed at one of four outcomes.
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Balanced cylinder load
Even load distribution across cylinders, avoiding the accelerated wear that results when individual cylinders bear an excessive share of the load.
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Optimised injection timing
Timing set to the engine builder’s reference values, for the fuel in use and the load at which the engine is operated.
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Early detection of wear
Trended data identifying a developing fault between overhauls, while the intervention can still be planned.
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Reduced fuel consumption and emissions
Reduced specific fuel consumption across the fleet, with the corresponding reduction in emissions.
Approach
How DS Engineering differs
DS Engineering is a new company in an established market. The distinction lies not in scale but in the fact that the software and the instruments are developed by the same engineers, and developed continuously, whereas much of the equipment in service is maintained rather than advanced.
Software written by engine measurement specialists
Marine software is developed here by engineers who also design the instruments and understand the measurement. A requirement therefore does not need to be explained to a general software contractor before work can begin.
Cloud built for marine practice
Fleet platforms designed around how vessels report: intermittent connectivity, records taken by crew rather than specialists, and a superintendent ashore who requires an overview of the performance status of the whole fleet.
Developed, not merely maintained
Hardware and software are updated as measurement and computing practice advances. Much of the equipment in service today is based on an architecture defined more than a decade ago and maintained in operation since.
Proven pressure measurement
Cylinder pressure is measured with Kistler transducers: established instrumentation of known provenance, rather than a proprietary sensor whose behaviour cannot be independently verified.
Acoustic emission as our own product
Acoustic emission sensors are designed and produced in house. They add a diagnostic channel that pressure measurement alone cannot provide, and because they are our own design they can be adapted to the fault conditions a customer needs to detect.
Suited to the occasional user and the specialist
The software provides a guided path for an engineer who takes measurements a few times a year, and full access to the underlying values for those who work with them daily. Neither audience is served at the expense of the other.
The full chain from one supplier
Sensor, instrument, firmware, desktop software and cloud are held within one organisation. Where a reading is questioned, responsibility is not divided between separate suppliers.
Long-term support without obsolescence
DieselScope and Electronic Indicator instruments, together with older COMPAC instruments, are repaired and calibrated in our workshop, including units supplied many years ago. The software can also be extended to read instruments from other suppliers that a fleet already owns, so that existing equipment and existing measurement history need not be discarded in order to adopt a current system.
A small team
Customers have direct access to the engineers who designed the equipment. Queries are handled by the people responsible for it, without escalation through support tiers.
Typical requirements
- A fleet platform or shipboard application developed to specification
- Transfer of measurement data into shore-side systems
- Analysers and software supplied under the customer’s brand
- Repair or recalibration of a DieselScope, Electronic Indicator or older COMPAC instrument
- Replacement of ageing or unsupported indicating equipment
- An acoustic emission sensor adapted to a particular engine or fault condition
Enquiries
Please provide the engine types concerned, the measurement or development requirement, and any existing equipment in use. This includes proposals for instruments outside pressure and acoustic emission measurement. A response will follow with scope, timing and price.