Technical Articles
Deep dives on sensor networks, EtherCAT topology, anomaly detection, and the design choices behind the RoRoSafe platform.
The Four Stages of Li-Ion Thermal Runaway — and What Each Implies for Detection
Stage 1 is invisible. Stage 4 is unrecoverable. Detection technology that wants to matter operates between Stages 1 and 2 — not between Stages 3 and 4.
H₂, CO, and CO₂ — The Gas Signature of Early-Stage Thermal Runaway
The gas-phase signature of a stressed Li-ion cell has a specific order and a specific tempo. Knowing it tells you what to sense, where, and when.
Tuning Coherence Windows to Kill False Positives
Cross-cell coherence is the suppression layer. The window length is the lever. Two seconds too short and solar gain trips the deck; two seconds too long and you spend lead time on noise.
The 30-Minute Off-Gas Window — What the Bench Data Actually Shows
Off-gas detection vendors quote up to 30 minutes lead time over thermal. The bench data backs them — with caveats that matter at sea.
Marine-Spec Thermal Imaging Cameras — What Actually Survives on Deck
Thermal cameras are part of every modern PCTC fire-detection conversation. Surviving the vehicle-deck environment is a different question from imaging in a brochure.
Class-Society Fire Notations for RoRo — The Voluntary Mandate
DNV, Lloyd's Register, ClassNK, and ABS each maintain fire-safety notations a shipowner can request. Voluntary on paper, contractual in practice — and increasingly priced in by underwriters.
How Are Thermal Hotspots Detected on Cargo Decks?
The detection problem on a cargo deck is not measurement — IR sensors are commodity. It is deciding which delta in which cell at which time is real.
Redundant Power Architecture for the Segment Master
A segment master that loses power loses a whole deck. The redundancy story has to start at the supply rail, not at the network port.
Can Gas Sensors Detect Lithium-Ion Runaway?
Yes — and earlier than thermal in some environments. The harder questions are which gases, where to mount the sensor, and why we treat it as a complementary layer at sea.
SOLAS II-2/7 and Portable IR Imagers — Why Fixed Detection Beats Portable
Draft SOLAS amendments under II-2/7 require portable infrared thermal imagers for container-deck hot-spot screening. On vehicle decks, portable is the wrong unit of analysis.
Thermal Cameras vs Thermal Grids — Which Wins on a Cargo Deck?
Both can image temperature. They fail in different places. On a cargo deck the failure modes are what determine the answer.
Fiber-Optic Linear Heat Detection on Open RoRo Decks — Where It Wins
Distributed fiber-optic sensing (DAS/DTS) covers a deck-length cable as one continuous temperature sensor. On open ro-ro decks, it solves the line-of-sight problem cameras have.
Why We Chose EtherCAT Ring Topology for Marine Sensor Networks
Star-topology fieldbuses fail open when a single run is damaged. Ring topology with redundancy keeps the segment master talking to every node, even with a cut cable.
The BMS Handshake — Pre-Fire Shutdown as a Detection-Layer Output
Off-gas detection vendors in ESS markets tie the sensor directly into the BMS to shut down the affected stack. The marine analogue is harder — but the principle still applies.
Integrating Water-Mist Lances With a Per-Vehicle Detection Layer
Draft SOLAS amendments under II-2/10.7.3.1 set functional requirements for water mist lances. Their effectiveness depends entirely on the detection layer above them.
Salt Mist, IP66, and Why Our Coating Spec Changed Twice
The first conformal coat passed lab spray tests and failed in service. The second passed in service and failed thermal cycling. The third one stuck.
Video Analytics on Vehicle Decks — As a Secondary, Not a Primary
CCTV with smoke- and flame-classification analytics is increasingly bundled with detection systems. It belongs in the stack — just not at the top of it.
Detection Implications of Ammonia-Ready PCTCs
Ammonia fuel storage adjacent to vehicle decks creates new chemical and thermal context. The detection layer has to coexist with ammonia leak-detection.
Firmware-Over-EtherCAT on a Vessel Mid-Voyage
Pushing a firmware update to 1,200 sensor cells while the ship is at sea sounds simple. Doing it safely is not. Here is what the procedure looks like.
FIRESAFE II Findings on Open Ro-Ro and Weather-Deck Detection
The FIRESAFE II joint research programme tested multiple detection technologies on open ro-ro decks. The results map cleanly onto what works at sea.
Per-Vehicle Thermal Baselines and 6 °C Anomaly Detection
A deck-wide threshold misses the early-stage signature. A per-vehicle rolling baseline catches it 18–25 minutes earlier in our bench tests.
Building the Evidence Package a Class Society Will Accept
Class approval is not a sales document. It is a defensible body of evidence that the system does what the spec says, with reproducible test methodology.
Inside the Sensor Cell — Hardware Architecture of an RRS-01 Node
Each sensor cell is a small, sealed, deterministic device. Here is what is on the board, why each part is there, and what we threw out before we got to v3.
Multi-Modal Sensor Fusion — Temperature, Gas, Smoke as One Decision
Each sensor modality has different blind spots. Multi-modal fusion is not a buzzword — it is the only architecture that survives the marine failure modes.
Weather Deck vs Enclosed Deck — Two Different Detection Problems
SOLAS II-2/20 covers weather-deck suppression. The detection problem on the same deck is materially different from a deck below — wind, solar, and visibility all matter.
Signal Coding Choices for Vibration Immunity
A vehicle deck vibrates. A sensor that filters vibration too aggressively loses early-stage signal. The middle ground is where the work is.
The Data Pipeline From Deck Sensor to Bridge Console
A walk-through of every hop the data takes — sensor cell, segment master, vessel server, bridge console — and the latency budget at each.
Where AI Anomaly Detection Helps — And Where Rules Still Win
We use both. The interesting question is which decisions belong to which approach. The split is not where most marketing decks would put it.
Marine-Grade Cable Design Choices for Vehicle Decks
Twenty meters of cable damaged by a tire is not a sensor problem — it is a cable problem. Here is what we learned about specifying for the environment.
Time Synchronisation Without GPS Belowdecks
A red-state event has to be timestamped to within milliseconds across all sensor cells. Belowdecks, GPS is not available. PTP over the EtherCAT ring is.
What the 2025 IMDG Code Changes for Vehicle-Carrier Operators
The IMDG Code 2025 Edition became mandatory on 1 January 2026 and tightened the scope of the Li-ion battery dangerous-goods exemption. Vehicle carriers are within the changed envelope.