GUIDANCE MARINE RangeGuard Monopole, Operator'S Manual

Page: 7 / 41

l
7
The RangeGuard Monopole system is the latest generation of Guidance Marine’s radar-
based position reference products. Delivering accurate positional data to marine vessel
Dynamic Positioning (DP) control systems for automated approach and station keeping,
against simple monopole targets.
The RangeGuard Monopole System consists of three main parts:
•
RangeGuard Sensors
•
RangeGuard Monopole Processing Unit
•
RangeGuard Monopole Dashboard Software
RangeGuard Sensors
The RangeGuard Monopole system utilises two radar sensors which each have a fixed
beam with a 110° field of view in the horizontal plane. They are mounted on the edge of a
vessel so that the two sensor beams overlap which allows them to observe a monopole
target simultaneously. This information is then passed on to the processing unit so that it
can calculate the position of the monopole target.
System Overview
RangeGuard Monopole Processing Unit
The RangeGuard Monopole Processing Unit takes the observed signal from the two
sensors and uses this to calculate a precise range measurement from each sensor to the
monopole target. From these two measurements it then calculates the target position
relative to the vessel through trilateration and passes this value on to the client software
and the vessel’s DP system.
RangeGuard Monopole Dashboard Software
The RangeGuard Monopole Dashboard is the software application used to control
and monitor the RangeGuard Monopole system. It is installed on one or more marine-
specification Type 3 Marine Processors or other computers running Windows® 7, usually
mounted on the bridge near to the controls of the vessel’s DP system.
The Dashboard gives the DP operator control of the RangeGuard Monopole system and
the data stream being fed to the DP system.
RangeGuard Monopole Dashboard Software
RangeGuard
Monopole
Processing Unit
RangeGuard Sensors