Capturing Navigational Information With Image Grabbing Equipment
ECDIS computer-based navigation systems are extensively applied on multiple vessels.
ECDIS stands for Electronic Chart Display and Information System.
It integrates position information from GPS and displays the information from electronic navigational charts.
Navigation officers consistently and safely rely on ECDIS as a key navigational aid.
ECDIS provides warnings of impending danger as it monitors multiple safety parameters.
Signals from such sources as Automatic Identification System (AIS), GPS, and Radar and ARPA (Automatic Radar Plotting Aid), etc.
can be displayed using the ECDIS monitor.
Navigational capture tools are in demand since the navigational information received from the ECDIS equipment is usually saved and reproduced in accordance with requirements.
It is essentially important for verifying the used database and reconstructing the details of navigation.
This data can be acquired from the ECDIS system and recorded using frame grabbers.
These image capturing devices may be a suitable supplement to a navigational system.
In case of an ECDIS system with a VGA output (popular Furuno's TECDIS and other models), a VGA frame grabber will do the job.
The frame grabber provides navigational capture and recording on a video capture working station.
During naval activities route plans may change frequently.
It happens during rescue operations, bad weather and due to hundreds of other reasons.
No wonder that navigator prefer a high-performance digital chart and decision-support ECDIS system using digital databases.
It combines many functions in one advanced computing system that monitors the situation on-the-fly and display warnings.
It is no wonder that much real-time information obtained by ECDIS from ARPA, AIS, electronic charts and navigation sensors should be saved.
Frame grabbers would best serve this purpose as they perform navigational capture, displaying and recording images from the video output of the ECDIS system.
As an example, an external VGA2USB frame grabber captures data from the ECDIS VGA output and allows recording it on a PC with high resolution.
Modern frame grabbers capture images in a wide range of formats and resolutions therefore it is always possible to choose the one that best fits your needs.
After being connected to an ECDIS video output an external frame grabber synchronizes itself with the video source to capture images at resolution it supports.
It reduces the amount of data required for each captured image using compression algorithms and optimizes data transmission.
These operations result in navigational capture and recording captured data on a workstation.
Thus all information about the vessel's voyage available from ECDIS is accurately recorded for later reproducing.