Application
LNA is a navigational aid for lifeboats to make lifeboat evacuation safer, and is unaffected by external factors such as poor visibility and harsh weather conditions. LNA was originally developed for both free-falling and conventional lifeboats.
The product is available both as a pure navigation instrument that gives the lifeboat visual aid to steer in the safe direction after evacuation, and as a complete system with integrated autopilot that provides fully automated safe evacuation.
The LNA contains sensors that “lock” and show safe direction for evacuation in an intuitive and clear display located centrally at the lifeboat’s dash board. The display shows at all times the pre-programmed safe evacuation direction along with the actual course of the lifeboat so that the pilot is able to steer the lifeboat away from the installation by only following the directions shown on the display. With a complete “LNA with AES” system which features amongst other an electro-hydraulic steering system with automatic escape (autopilot) functionality, the evacuation takes place fully automatically.
Technology
The system is based on a very accurate sensor package consisting of 3 solid state gyros and 3 accelerometers which together maintain an accurate directional reference and calculates the deviation between the reference and the real course. This deviation is shown in the display at the driver’s position and constitutes the control deviation that is fed into the autopilot-algorithm in the fully automated version. The system is an essential safety equipment developed by Scanmatic in close collaboration with Statoil (now Equinor). LNA is installed and operating in more than 250 lifeboats on the Norwegian continental shelf in the North Sea.