Wireless Remote Control News

Boston-based Sea Machines Robotics, a developer of autonomous command and advanced perception systems, announced Monday that classification society Bureau Veritas (BV) has granted type approval to the company’s commercial wireless remote-control helm system.Type approval from Bureau Veritas means that the wireless control technology embedded in both Sea Machines’ SM200 and SM300 systems has undergone rigorous third-party testing and certification to meet the stringent demands…

Boston-based Sea Machines Robotics revealed on Wednesday that its SM200 wireless helm system has been installed and is being used aboard two sister U.S.-flag articulated tug-barge (ATB) tugboats.Sea Machines said its dealer Rio Controls & Hydraulics, of Houston, managed the installations and technology integrations at a U.S. Gulf of Mexico shipyard. In the coming months, Rio and Sea Machines will continue to work together to install additional SM200 systems on at least five more ATB tugboats by the same owner.Sea Machines’ wireless helm system introduces flexible control for mariners…

MacArtney completed its order of a launch and recovery (LARS) system for Taiwan National University, the fifth Ocean Research Vessel (ORV) in the Asia Pacific region to date. MacArtney Asia Pacific provided the full launch and recovery system solution for the new vessel R/V New Ocean Researcher 1 (ORV 1), including slip rings, cables and docking heads. The 1,000 GT RV was completed on July 21, 2020.Behind ORV 1 is the CSBC Corporation, which built the ship for end-user Taiwan National University. CSBC, owning two shipyards, is the largest shipbuilding company in Taiwan.

U.S.-based autonomous marine systems developer Sea Machines announced on Tuesday that it has received class and regulatory approval to install its commercial wireless helm system aboard a class of U.S.-flag tugboats that support articulated tug-barge (ATB) sets, marking an industry first in wireless vessel control.The U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) and American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) approval for Sea Machines’ SM200 follows a review of the Boston-based company’s technology and the system’s applications aboard ATB tugs, deeming the system satisfactory for shipboard installation and trials.

Sea Machines Robotics CEO & President.Michael Gordon Johnson is a marine engineer, an accomplished entrepreneur and sector leader with a primary goal of building progressive and sustainable innovation for modern society. He is the founder of Sea Machines, a Boston-based tech company that is a leading provider of autonomous control and intelligent perception systems for marine vessels. Johnson earned a marine engineering degree from Texas A&M University before starting a career focused on complex projects in offshore oil and gas, marine transportation and salvage.

Recently brought to the UK’s shores, Dockmate is a future proof, wireless remote-control boat steering system that can be fitted in less than a day on any boat or yacht across the country from driveway to dry dock. Designed to eliminate all the worry and uncertainty associated with docking, Dockmate has confirmed it will be exhibiting for the first time at this year’s Seawork International - Quayside.The team at Dockmate will demonstrate how its remote boat docking technology…

Marine Travelift has recently partnered with RMK Merrill-Stevens for the delivery of a new 100 BFMII (100 metric ton lifting capacity) mobile boat hoist.The custom 100-ton machine will be operational later this summer and will join an older 70 ton Marine Travelift on site, expanding the capacity and versatility of the Miami shipyard as part of their ongoing modernization efforts.RMK Merrill-Stevens is a full-service yacht repair facility performing repair and refit of yachts, commercial craft and government vessels ranging from 30’ to 300’.

Pontchartrain Materials Company finds innovative solution for barge unloading applications. Located in New Orleans, La., Pontchartrain Materials Corporation, LLC provides aggregates to general contractors as well as asphalt and ready-mix companies. In addition to their chief product, limestone, the family-owned company sells recycled concrete and recycled asphalt. Pontchartrain sources the material from quarries in northern states, transferring it down the Mississippi River by barge to one of three company aggregate yards or directly to customers in the New Orleans and surrounding area.

Thrustmaster of Texas, Inc. has been supplying wireless remote controls for thrusters since the 1980s, offering products that are supported through their lifecycles with upgrades that result from recent technological developments. Breathwit Marine Contractors installed Thrustmaster’s wireless propulsion remote control system on a towboat in 1989. The controls allowed the towboat pushing the barge train to control an azimuth thruster on a bow boat at the very front of a large barge train…

Ancora Marina in Neustadt, Germany, took delivery of a new Marine Travelift 75 BFMII mobile boat hoist, Marine Travelift Inc. announced today. Ancora Marina is located on the Bay of Lübeck in Schleswig-Holstein, northeast of Hamburg and southeast of Kiel. The new 75 BFMII is the marina’s fourth mobile boat hoist from Marine Travelift, and it replaces a 1988 Marine Travelift 70 BFM and a 1992 70 BFM. According to Michael Wippern from Dr. Ing. Bender & Wippern GmbH, Marine Travelift’s local dealer…

Tamtron Group announced it has joined with selected customers to develop a device for measuring tension or pulling forces. This shackle dynamometer, also known as a shackle load cell, is suited for field tests due to its light structure that has been achieved by replacing the pin of the shackle with an axle load cell, the developer said. The shackle dynamometer has typically been used for calibrating the winches on ships and for measuring the pulling forces of construction machines.

The MacArtney Group announced the delivery of a CORMAC 4 Stainless Steel Winch system to the Institute of Geosciences at the Christian Albrechts University of Kiel. The winch system, which was acquired through German MacArtney Group member, MBT GmbH, will be put to use aboard various research vessels, hereunder the R/V Alkor, which is operated by the GEOMAR Helmholtz Center for Ocean Research Kiel. Housed within a self-contained and compact stainless steel structure, the CORMAC winch is rugged…