An innovative methodology for enabling predictive maintenance of ship systems based on Industry 4.0 technologies

Since their introduction, the so-called disruptive technologies related to the development of the Industry 4.0 paradigm have been under the spotlight of industries and companies across various sectors. This trend has also inevitably drawn interest of a very traditional sector such as shipbuilding, with a specific look to design, management and maintenance phases. To remain competitive on the market, shipbuilders and shipowners must ensure high levels of reliability for their ships, directly impacting how maintenance procedures are carried out. In this regard, Virtual and Augmented Realities, combined with other Industry 4.0 technologies such as sensors for real-time data collection and QR-coding techniques, can provide huge benefits in terms of personnel training and simplify operations for on-board technical officers. This paper provides a brief overview of how maintenance in shipbuilding has traditionally been performed in recent years. The authors then present a novel methodology aimed at preliminarily enabling predictive maintenance on board ships, developed by leveraging Industry 4.0 technologies and applied on a real case study based on the engine room of a large pleasure yacht. Specifically, the approach is based on the combined use of Augmented Reality and QR-coding technique and exploits accurate 3D virtual models of both the ship and equipment. These models can be explored and investigated by means of tablets, smartphones, and smart glasses, giving direct access to technical documentation and maintenance instructions in their digital form. Ship system designers and on-board personnel were involved in the initial testing phases to evaluate the benefits of the proposed innovation. The outcomes highlighted a significant reduction in human errors and execution times of ship maintenance operations, along with increased simplification of tasks for crew members.