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Of course, Sea Ray would
rather that Navigators never require repair. Toward that end, the development
team devised a wicked testing regime. Besides the standard outside-lab
environmental tests for emissions, moisture resistance, etc., the Navigator
had to spend time on "The Roof." Compared to all the high-tech
gear around the PD&E facility at Merritt Island, Florida, this patch
of rolled roofing on top of the Mechanical Lab trailer is pretty simple;
however, running for a full month totally exposed to the heat and rain
there is a real trial.
Onboard testing was
equally grueling. SRNs were not only put on boats run extensively by Sea
Ray’s own captains and several experienced customers, but also the
run-all-day-every-day fleet at a nearby Mercury test facility and a few
wildcards like the Coast Guard rocket boat I rode on. Sometimes the Navigator
broke, and, when the fixes were substantial, the testing clock went back
to zero. The process even uncovered the fact that certain dual counter-rotating
props, when running at speed in flat water, could generate a harmonic
vibration that would freeze a certain brand of hard disk. In retrospect
Knapp will tell you that "building a computer that will take this
abuse is &?@# hard!" The "validation" process may have
taken longer than hoped, but it also allowed for some true fine-tuning.
When Bosun’s Mate Allain made an astute, though quite minor, suggestion
about the unit’s night-screen mode, Pratt dashed off a wireless e-mail
to a programmer in Massachusetts.
Sea Ray also subjected
the Navigator to a full Failure Mode and Effects Analysis, in which every
department with any contact to the unit attempted to predict all possible
failures and ways to avoid them. It’s a structured process much more
common to the automotive industry than to boatbuilding, but no surprise,
as Sea Ray is well known for its early adoption of carmaker design and
production technologies. In fact, some of Navigator’s proposed features
are a lot like the OnStar system proliferating in high-end cars, and the
very notion of normally incongruent hardware, software, and boatbuilding
companies working together on a unified product is so strange in this
industry that it deserves attention in the business press.
I share not only Criner’s
assessment of Navigator as a revolutionary product, but also his addendum
that its creation has been an "industry-changing process." Over
the last few years there have been tremendous advances in the integration
of electronics with each other, but most systems remain complex to put
together and operate. If Navigator foreshadows a new level of power and
ease for a boater at his helm, it may also begin a whole new round of
development and team building amongst all the players behind that helm.
My guess is that more SRN-style "boat brains" will be developed,
but not quickly. Ask Pratt, Knapp, and Criner; developing a system that
seems so simple, so part of the boat, so "why didn’t I think
of that"… is hard.
Sea Ray Phone:
(800) 772-6287. Fax: (314) 213-7878. www.searay.com.
Maptech Phone:
(978) 792-1000. Fax: (978) 792-1092. www.maptech.com.
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