Accessibly Profiling a Small Vessel’s Operational

Characteristics
Kevin Lu1,∗ , Tjeerd M. Schoppink1,∗ , Jelle T. Smit1,∗ , Jurre J. H. Swen1,∗ ,
Matthijs (Thijs) Van der Schaaf1,2 , Arie C. Baak2 , Edwin B. H. J. Van Hassel Looijenga1 , Henk J. de Koning
Gans1

1
Department of Marine Technology, Delft University of Technology, Delft, Netherlands
2
Holland Shipyards Group, Hardinxveld-Giessendam, The Netherlands
∗
These authors contributed equally to this work.
tudelftijsselmeervisserijbep@gmail.com

Abstract
This research aims to provide an accessible method for obtaining operational characteristics of small ves-
sels, in a way that is accessible to most vessel owners. The primary objective is to enhance understanding of
vessel operation and explore potential alternative driveline systems, including hybrid or full-electric options.
To achieve this, the proposed solution leverages an Arduino computer and harnesses the existing components
of the diesel engine to gather motor operation data effectively. Additionally, a GPS unit connected to the
Arduino records the vessel’s location throughout its operation. The collected data is then subjected to anal-
ysis using a user-friendly Python script that incorporates numerous built-in functions specifically designed
for examining the vessel’s operational profile. To illustrate the practical application of this methodology, a
case study involving data logged aboard the small fishing vessel UK-122 ”Frank” is presented. The findings
from this research offer valuable insights into optimizing vessel performance, identifying potential areas for
improvement, and facilitating the integration of innovative driveline systems. Further research in this area
has the potential to revolutionize small vessel operations, ensuring a more sustainable and efficient maritime
industry.
Keywords:
Data Aqcuisition, Logging, Sustainability, Maritime, Innovation, Emission Reduction, Operational Char-
acteristics, Alternative Driveline Systems
1 Introduction
The aim of this research is to identify an accessible method for gathering the operational characteristics
of small vessels. Understanding the operational characteristics is crucial as it provides valuable insights
into possible alternative drivelines, such as electric or hybrid systems. Developing a cost-effective and non-
intrusive method enables vessel owners to determine the feasibility of adopting electric drivelines without
significant time and financial investments.
This paper comprises of four main sections. Firstly, the data acquisition process is discussed, detailing
the methodology used to collect relevant operational data. Next, the paper describes the data analysis pro-
cedure, outlining the approach for extracting meaningful insights from the acquired data. Subsequently, the
results of a case study conducted using this method are presented, showcasing its practical application and
outcomes. Finally, the potential flaws and limitations of the method are discussed, offering a comprehensive
understanding of its practical implications.
By providing an easily accessible and cost-efficient solution for obtaining a ship’s operational charac-
teristics, this research contributes to the evaluation of alternative driveline systems for small vessels. The
findings can give valuable insight to vessel owners trying to explore more sustainable and efficient propul-
sion options for their vessels.
2 Data Acquisition
The data acquisition method is based on an Arduino Mega 2560 microcontroller (Geeetech, 2014). Two
streams of data need to be read into the Arduino: the motor rpm and the GPS location. Furthermore, and
SD card reader is included to write the log information to. The advantage of using an Arduino is that it is
an open-source platform that is readily available. In addition to that, it is relatively easy to connect other
sensors to the device and log that data too. This could be an accelerometer to gain insight into the ship’s
stability, for example. All components will be described in more detail below. After that, the script used to
read all information is presented.

2.1 Tachometer
To control the tachometer that most marine diesel engines have on their instrument panel, the alternator has
an extra output next to DC current + and -, namely the W terminal. On this W terminal, the unrectified AC
signal generated by the alternator coils is sent out. The frequency of this signal is linearly proportional, but
not equal to the motor rpm.
To convert this signal into something the Arduino can work with, a small electric circuit is required.
This circuit uses a few resistors, a diode and an optocoupler to convert the 24V (or 12V) AC signal into a
square signal oscillating between 0 and 5V. The number of pulses in this signal is equal to the AC frequency
output on the alternator.
An optocoupler consists of an LED light and a photosensitive transistor. When a current is applied to
the LED light terminals, the LED will light up. As a reaction to this, the transistor will allow current to flow
through. This has two advantages: when the input voltage or current is too high, the LED is the only thing
that will burn out, leaving the Arduino intact. Furthermore, it will either let current through or it will not,
resulting in a square wave output.

Figure 1: The Arduino circuit diagram

In the circuit diagram in figure 1, the alternator is replaced by a frequency generator. The Arduino is
replaced by a power supply and oscilloscope. Normally, the power supply will be an Arduino 5V pin and
the oscilloscope function is replaced by an input pin. The Arduino can then count the number of pulses in a
set amount of time and convert that number to a frequency. This was done according to the following cycle:
 Figure 2: The tachometer cycle

2.2 GPS
To log the location of the vessel whenever it is sailing, a GPS unit is to be connected to the Arduino. For
this research project, an u-blox NEO-M8N (ublox, 2023) is used, however any GPS unit that outputs NMEA
over TTL serial will work. The GPS is connected to one of the physical serial ports on the Arduino and gets
its power from the Arduino 5V pins. The library TinyGPSplus (Hart, 2022) is used to decode the NMEA
messages to usable time, latitude, and longitude measurements.

2.3 SD card
The data that is logged by the Arduino, is written to an SD card every cycle. The SD card reader is connected
to the SPI interface of the Arduino as shown in figure 3 below:

Figure 3: Connecting the SD card reader to the SPI interface.

The main program cycle then looks like this:

 Figure 4: The full Arduino program cycle

3 Data Analysis
After collecting the data, analysis may be performed, in order to calculate the total required energy of the
ship’s onboard power systems. By integrating the output power of the engine over time across every time
point, the total energy requirements may be calculated. First, the raw data files are cleaned by removing any
entries with a zero, indicating either 0 RPM (engine off) or faulty coordinate data. Any other incorrect data
is filtered out by checking for non-standard data types, such as integers where strings are expected. After
importing the data into Python, processing may begin.
One of the data lists contains absolute time data. This, however, is in the format hh:mm:ss, which is
not useful for time integration. Instead, the data must be converted to relative time, with a starting point
zero, from which all other data starts. This is done by calculating the number of seconds from 00:00:00, and
subtracting every subsequent time point by the first entry.
Another data list that needs to be processed is the frequency list. For the dynamo frequency to be con-
verted into the motor RPM, they need to be matched first. When installing the Arduino-unit on the ship, the
engine was turned on at different specific speeds. By then graphing the measured dynamo frequency and
the previously selected RPMs, interpolation allowed all dynamo frequencies to be mapped to motor RPMs.
In this case, a quadratic spline was used as the interpolation method. This is then done to the frequency list
to create the RPM list.

The next challenge exists in translating a given RPM to an output power of the engine. In this case, the
engine manufacturer’s data sheet was used to achieve this. It contains a performance curve that translates a
given rpm to an output power. This relies on the assumption that the engine is operating on its torque curve.
For a vessel that does not encounter bollard pull situations and has a well matched propeller this assumption
is safe to make and results will provide a good indication of power usage. Furthermore, this curve only
covered a range from 1200 to 2200 RPM, omitting the output power data in the range of 650 to 1200 RPM.
This mean that extrapolation had to be used, which is a somewhat unreliable method. However, analysing
the performance curves of similar engines revealed that the final shape of the curve closely resembled those
of similar diesel engines. Ideally the manufacturer of the engine would have published the full performance
curves, but this was an acceptable substitute.
4 Results
In this section, the results of a case study using the method outlined above are presented. The case study
was performed on the small fishing vessel UK-122 ”Frank” following a request by the owner. The owner
wanted to anticipate potential changes in legislation concerning emissions, thus looking into alternative drive
systems and fuels. The Arduino system was installed for two weeks to collect data, where the captain sailed
out of port 18 times. Visualising the output-data of a sample trip gives the following:

Figure 5: The raw output of the data analysis script

In figure 5 the output power of the engine is displayed in red, while the speed of the ship is displayed in
blue. Three pronounced peaks are visible at the start, in the middle, and at the end, where the captain sailed
at high speed. Indeed, these peaks are where the captain was purely sailing. Between these peaks fishing
conditions are visible. Both conditions are shown below:

Figure 6: Sailing and fishing conditions

On the left, the sailing condition is visible. Sailing is done at power, with its corresponding high speed.
The power is relatively constant across several minutes, albeit with slight up and downward shifts. On the
right, the fishing condition is visible. Fishing is done with at a consistently varying speed. This is due to the
fact that the captain fishes with traps, meaning he has to periodically stop to release/collect traps. Then, the
captain increases power to get to the next area, and so on. As such, the engine power is also rather chaotic.
This is partly due to the stop/start nature of fishing, but also due to maneuvering. When maneuvering, the
captain suddenly increases power for a small period of time in order to maneuver the ship in the correct
position. This explains the entries high up in the scatter plot during the fishing condition.

Now, while the sailing/fishing behaviour of the ship has been established, it is also important to look at the
total power and energy requirements of the ship. Using data from all 18 fishing trips, the following boxplots
were obtained:

Figure 7: The power and energy requirements, visualised in boxplots.

It is also possible to obtain some numerical data on energy output and emissions per trip:

Figure 8: Sample numerical data that may be obtained using this methodology.
By analysing all of the fishing trips, the following operational characteristics were derived:

Table 1: The operational characteristics of the UK-122 ”Frank”

Characteristic Mean value Median value Maximum value Unit

Range 45.69 47.65 55.38 km
Average output power 75.24 75.15 102.81 kW
Total Energy usage 266.23 266.47 407.14 kWh
– During fishing 140.43 132.21 211.04 kWh
– During sailing 120.26 117.69 214.75 kWh
– Error 6.23 1.99 35.11 kWh

Using this data, requirements may be set when changing parts of the propulsion systems. For example,
when changing an existing engine to a newer type, it should be able to produce enough power to run the ship
as before. Or when installing electrical systems based on batteries, it should follow that it should contain
enough capacity to be able to cover the energy usage of the ship.
In addition to power requirements, emission requirements can also be analysed using the code’s frame-
work. While not wholly accurate, they can give an indication of the engine’s polluting emissions in terms
of nitrogen oxides (NOX ), as visible in figure 8. If a certain emission reduction is to be realised, the code
may help in estimating potential reductions with new power systems. This base framework may even be
expanded upon to include other emissions such carbon dioxide (CO2 ) or particulate matter.

The analysis of both the behaviour and the power/energy requirement of the ship should give a captain
enough information to make an informed decision about potential alternative driveline systems.

5 Conclusion
The aim of this paper was to provide an accessible way of defining small vessel’s operational characteristics.
These operational characteristics can serve a valuable insight into the ways a vessel is operated, which in
turn can pave the way for research into alternative and sustainable driveline systems.

The data acquisition method relies on an Arduino, GPS, and a small electronic circuit to obtain information
on motor operation. The data that is logged is then fed through several data analysis functions to examine the
operational characteristics and calculate useful data to use as input for matching a new driveline to the vessel.

Overall, this research paves the way for future investigations in the field of small vessel operations. By
continuously exploring alternative driveline systems and refining data acquisition and analysis methods,
the maritime industry can strive towards a more sustainable and efficient future. Through collaboration
between academia, vessel owners and industry stakeholders, innovative solutions can be developed to reduce
emissions and optimize performance.

6 Relevance
With the preformed measurement and data analysis it was possible to obtain the operational profile of the
fishing vessel UK-122. This in turn made it possible to evaluate alternative propulsion sources with respect
to performance and capacity, from here a hybrid solution was selected that satisfied the conditions within
the limited space parameters. Although this research was performed specifically for the aforementioned
fishing vessel, the measurements can be applicable to any ship where the main power source is similar
to the researched vessel, or with minimal adjustment to the setup can be made suitable to fit any ship
where the power is delivered by a diesel engine operating within its operational limits. Therefore, the
constructed equipment can be used to quickly gain insight into the operational profile of smaller vessels
without performing intrusive actions or installing expensive equipment while having the possibility to add
more sensors to measure for example accelerations. To conclude, with the performed measurement and
analysis it is possible to cheaply and quickly evaluate the operating profile of a large range of smaller
vessels.

7 Discussion
The methodology as presented in this paper contains some flaws that are important to discuss and realise
when creating a similar setup. They will be discussed in this chapter.

Firstly, the way the rpm is converted to an output power highly depends on the fact that the propeller torque
curve is very similar to the engine torque curve. If, and only if this is the case, one can assume the output
power to be the power as found in the manufacturer sheets.

Secondly, the logging device always requires power when sailing. When power is disconnected, no data will
be logged. It therefore is very important to ensure a reliable connection to the device.

Furthermore, the device requires the presence of an unfiltered W output on the alternator. On most smaller
diesel engines this will be present as this output is also used for the tachometer, but nevertheless it is possible
that this output is not present.

Lastly, it is important to make sure a representative amount of time with representative sailing routes is
recorded. If the device is installed during a time the vessel was mainly sitting in the harbour, the data will
not be relevant.

Acknowledgements
The authors would like to express their gratitude to Thijs van der Schaaf and Arie Baak for their invaluable
support and continuous constructive feedback throughout the course of this research. Their expertise and
guidance have significantly contributed to the success of this project.

Special thanks are also extended to Albert and Freek Visscher for their interest in exploring alternative power
systems for the UK-122 fishing vessel. Their collaboration and cooperation in integrating the data acquisi-
tion system onto the vessel have been instrumental in gathering the necessary data for analysis.

The contributions and assistance of all individuals mentioned above have played a vital role in the successful
completion of this research project.

References
Geeetech. (2014). Arduino mega 2560. https://www.geeetech.com/wiki/index.php/Arduino Mega 2560
Hart, M. (2022). Mikalhart/tinygpsplus: A new, customizable arduino nmea parsing library. https://github.
com/mikalhart/TinyGPSPlus
ublox. (2023). U-blox neo-m8 series. https://www.u-blox.com/en/product/neo-m8-series