Enabling Precision Engineering with Embedded Systems Innovation

Overview 

A leading provider of high-performance motion sensing technologies develops advanced solutions for marine, subsea, and offshore energy applications. These solutions deliver highly accurate motion measurements that support critical operations such as vessel stability, offshore monitoring, and helideck safety systems. 

With over 1,200 Motion Reference Units deployed across vessels, floating structures, and subsea environments worldwide, they play a key role in enabling safer and more efficient offshore operations through advanced sensor technology and real-time data insights. Driven by continuous innovation, Norwegian Subsea initiated the development of a specialized sensor platform designed to stabilize helideck environments, where real-time motion data and system reliability are critical for safe helicopter landing operations. The project required combining advanced hardware engineering with highly specialized embedded software development to create a robust and reliable platform. 

The Challenge: Enabling a complex embedded platform 

The project involved building a sensor-driven stabilization platform capable of supporting helicopter landing environments in dynamic offshore conditions. While the hardware and development board were already in place, the key technical challenge lay in enabling the platform with a fully functional embedded software stack. 

The complexity extended beyond traditional software development. The system required: 

• Building a complete embedded software stack from the ground up 
• Implementing the system boot process and hardware initialization 
• Porting and adapting a Linux-based operating system to a custom hardware platform 
• Understanding CPU architecture and interpreting electronic schematics at a hardware level 
• Integrating FPGA-based development to create a configurable processor environment 

Despite significant efforts, progressing the software stack proved challenging, particularly in establishing a reliable boot process, operating system integration, and overall system architecture required for the platform to function effectively. 

Engineering the Technical Solution 

To accelerate development, Norwegian Subsea collaborated with 99x to address these challenges and enable the platform’s embedded system capabilities. The solution focused on several key areas: 

Embedded system foundations 

The project required building the system software stack from the ground up. This included implementing a bootloader, similar to a BIOS to initialize the hardware environment and enable system startup. From there, the operating system was ported and adapted to function on the specialized development board, requiring modifications to the Linux kernel to support the custom hardware configuration. 

FPGA based architecture 

A significant aspect of the solution involved FPGA integration. Unlike standard processors, FPGA platforms function as configurable hardware, allowing engineers to define and implement microprocessor functionality directly within the chip. This required strong expertise in both electronics and low-level programming, ensuring that hardware logic and software components operated seamlessly together. 

Schematic-level engineering 

Delivering the solution also required deep analysis of electronic schematics and system architecture. Understanding hardware pathways, signal flows, and processor design enabled the team to align operating system behaviour with the underlying electronics a critical step in achieving reliable performance. 

Impact & results 

With the embedded platform successfully enabled, Norwegian Subsea was able to accelerate the development of its helideck stabilization solution, transforming a complex technical challenge into a functional and scalable system. The implementation established a reliable software foundation capable of supporting advanced motion sensing and stabilization capabilities critical for improving safety and precision in offshore helicopter operations. 

99x and customer partnership 

Since the start of the engagement, the customer has collaborated with 99x as an embedded engineering partner, combining deep domain expertise in motion sensing with specialized software and system-level engineering capabilities. Working closely together enabled faster problem resolution and supported the customer's broader goal of delivering reliable, high-precision motion solutions for demanding offshore environments.