Sensors Hold Key To The Unattended Engine Room

摘要

It was not so long ago that the engine room of a typical warship was a hive of human activity as sailors stoked the boilers, oiled the bearings, opened and shut valves, monitored dials and logged every occurrence using pen and paper. The earliest introduction of remote systems between bridge and engine room was in communications: the speaking tube and the telegraph. Early advances toward automation included the remote operation of the propulsion system using levers, bowden cables, chains and rod linkages. A large amount of skill, technical appreciation and sequencing the commands in the correct order was needed to produce the required effect and, if there was a mechanical malfunction without the modern luxury of redundancy, what happened next was often in the lap of the gods.