Marine Obstruction Warning System
Eclipse Design Technologies has undergone a new project called the Marine Warning System. The purpose of the Marine Warning system is to highlight obstructions in the water for vehicles navigating through waterways. Along with making the product cost-efficient, the design must be aesthetically pleasing, highly visible a night, easily mountable, and water tolerant.
To complete the design, requires advanced electrical and mechanical engineering. The electrical component of the design involves a string of LED lights running through clear tubing that are wired to D-cell batteries and connected to a photoelectric diode. The photoelectric diode allows the device to only be used when there is not enough light for the boats to see the obstructions. The biggest electrical problem that occurred during the design was improving the battery life without using too many batteries. To solve this, we used 4 D-cell batteries, wiring 2 in series with the other 2.
The mechanical piece of the project entails finding a suitable and cost effective way to waterproof the electrical components as well as developing a way for the system to attach to the obstruction. The waterproofing was done using a modified plastic, waterproof case that allows the tubing to run into it and still keep the electrical components dry. The whole system is then attached to the obstruction using a Velcro strap that is attached to one end of the tube and runs through a handle on the waterproof case. The biggest mechanical problem that occurred during the design was modifying the waterproof case while keeping the inside dry. This was solved by using a seat washer that allows the tubing to run through while creating a seal on the inside and outside of the hole as well as a tight seal on the tube.
If you have any comments on this design or the many others that Eclipse is currently under contract for-please reply.
A quick improvement to the described system would be to add an variable duty cycle controller to the LED switch circuit. This would allow you to turn on and off the string of LED’s at a rate just beyond perception. Think more off time than on time for this function… Other changes might add in a selectable pattern that would occasionally blink, pulse brightly, or change in a way that draws the eye to the presence of the obstruction warning system. Finally, a small solar cell array with charge controller and rechargeable batteries would offer long system operating life with minimal maintenance (likely limited to periodic cleaning of the illumination string of LED’s. An interesting project!