A Function-Oriented Electronic and Electrical Architecture of Remote Control Ship on Inland River: Design, Verification, and Evaluation

The remote control is an important function of intelligent ships. In this article, first, the functions and communication requirements of remote control ships are sorted out based on the “Rules for Intelligent Ships (2020)” issued by the China Classification Society (CCS). Second, a domain controller-based electronic and electrical architecture (EEA) for inland remote control ships is proposed. The functional domain of the ship is divided, combined with the physical layout of the ship, into the perception domain, communication domain, motion control domain, marine bridge domain, deck domain, cargo management domain, and cabin domain. Third, the real-time network communication system and the central gateway controller are designed, and the efficient information interaction between domain controllers is realized through a service-oriented communication architecture. The simulation experiment shows that the designed domain controller architecture and communication network can meet the information interaction requirements of the ship. Compared with the traditional distributed architecture, the ship EEA based on the domain controller has apparent advantages in system cost, system redundancy, functional load distribution, architecture scalability, communication load distribution, and information security and can give a design reference for inland remote control ships.