Supported Sensors

Hydromagic Dredging depends on sensors to get position information for angles of dredging equipment (excavator boom, stick and bucket or suction tube) and the motions of the pontoon or vessel (roll, pitch and dynamic draft). To get this information into the software, sensors have to be used which are configured using plugins.

This document contains a list of supported sensors from each manufacturer and discusses what sensors are needed for each dredge configuration. The following brands of sensors are supported:

• Cable Arm;
• CTi Sensors;
• Level Developments;
• Posital;
• SEIKA Mikrosystemtechnik GmbH;
• Trimble GCS900 System;
• US Digital.

Cable Arm

Hydromagic Dredging ships with a plugin which makes it possible to interface with the "Cable Arm Positioning" hardware. This system consists of a processor box with an RS232 serial connection and a CAN interface to which 3 or 4 Posital Fraba sensors are connected. This system can be used for multiple dredge configurations but was originally designed for excavators.

Cable Arm Interface (CAN).

CTi Sensors

CTi Sensors is the leading innovator in design, development and manufacturing of inertial sensors and measurement systems. CTi Sensors offers a variety of inclinometers. The CTi TILT-3x and TILT-5x sensors can be interfaced with Hydromagic Dredging using the "Generic Inclinometer Plugin".

CTi sensors TILT-5x series inclinometer sensor.

Level Developments

Level Developments, based in the UK and United States, sells both single- and dual axis inclinometer sensors. Models like the SOLAR-360-1-RS232 and LCH-0360 continuously output a serial data stream which can be parsed using the "Generic Inclinometer Plugin".

The Level Developments SOLAR-360-1-RS232 inclinometer sensor.

Posital

Posital is a manufacturer of sensors for motion control and safety assurance systems. The company’s products, which include rotary encoders, inclinometers, and linear position sensors are used in a wide range of settings. Posital offers a dual axis inclinometer as well, which can be used as motion sensor on your vessel or pontoon.

When ordering a Posital inclinometer sensor, please make sure that you order a sensor with the Modbus RTU or ASCII interface. These models can be interfaced with Hydromagic by using either the "Hydromagic Modbus-RTU Plugin" or "Generic Inclinometer Plugin".

Example of a Posital inclinometer sensors (image courtesy Posital Fraba).

U.S. Digital

US Digital offers a breadth of quality off-the-shelf and custom-built inclino- and rotary sensors. Hydromagic supports the A2T product line. These sensors are connected via a RS485 style serial bus and can be addressed individually using the US Digital proprietary SEI (Serial Encoder Interface) protocol. Make sure that you order a sensor with SEI Bus interface to use the device with the "Hydromagic US Digital A2T Plugin".

In addition to the A2T product range, the Modbus RTU versions of the T7 product range sensors can be used by using the "Hydromagic Modbus-RTU Plugin". Make sure to order a RS485 to USB or RS485 to RS232 converter as well when your computer does not have RS485 ports installed (most likely).