UNDER CONSTRUCTION...

R/V WECOMA Shipboard Computing

This page describes aspects of shipboard computing on board R/V WECOMA. Information is provided on hardware, software, and network configuration.

Data acquisition and management follows this basic sequence...

Raw data is acquired by the Slogger and MET systems.
Data is logged by the Slogger system in netCDF format on 3.25" floppies.
Data is passed from the Slogger to the Data Management System in NMEA 0183 format via an RS-232 line.
The Slogger Client program reads the NMEA 0183 data stream and publishes the raw data values to the XMidas Server program.
The Detail Client program gets the raw data from the server, computes engineering unit data from the raw data, and publishes the calculated values back to the server.
The Logger Client program gets the calculated data from the server, stores it in hourly files, and can replay requests for past data from other clients on the server.
Calculated data is plotted real time with the Strip Chart and Nav Chart programs, both of which are server clients.

The ship is wired as a stand-alone ethernet network using 10Base-2 (ThinNET) and is centered on an HP ThinNet Hub.
Thinnet lines from the hub are strung to various points in the ship and are available for networking connection by scientific and ship's computing.
Three of the hub's lines are dedicated to use by ship's permanent computing.
For a map of the ship's network, click here.
For a overview of the entire Ship/ShipOps network, click here.