Silicon Sensing Systems Ltd’s latest inertial measurement technology has been used in AD Navigation AS’s new pilot’s aid, the ADX XR, to successfully guide the Pioneering Spirit—the world’s largest construction vessel—into Maasvlakte in the Port of Rotterdam. The vessel is designed for the single-lift installation and removal of large oil and gas platforms and the installation of record-weight pipelines.

With large vessels such as the Pioneering Spirit, which measures 372 x 124 m, final entrance and docking manoeuvers in the close confines of port are typically controlled by a pilot.  The pilot uses the ADX XR as a ship-independent navigation aid.

In the trials, precise movement data from Silicon Sensing’s CRH02 all-silicon gyros allowed the ADX XR to deliver a highly accurate and detailed 3 to 5-min. ship course prediction to the pilot. CRH02 is a compact, low noise, single axis gyroscope which provides outstanding performance, similar to a fiber optic gyro, but is more rugged, with a lower size and weight. Following successful performance, AD Navigation placed a production order for CRH02 gyros. —Silicon Sensing Systems Ltd.

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