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Summary: Viam’s edge data capture solution enables Digital Yacht to deliver real-time anchor drift alerts through an easy-to-use app, helping boaters anchor with confidence and stay informed even when they go ashore.
Anchoring down with confidence: How AnchorSafe transforms anchor drift alerts for boaters
For boaters, anchor drift is a persistent issue—unpredictable currents, shifting winds, or an unstable sea floor can cause an anchored boat to drag, making it hard for boaters to confidently leave their vessels in place. Traditional solutions often fall short in providing timely, accurate notifications that alert boaters to potential drift. Digital Yacht, a leader in marine technology, has partnered with Viam to address this head-on through a robust new feature for their advanced boat monitoring app, NjordLINK.
Digital Yacht has a strong reputation for creating advanced systems that help boaters get maximum enjoyment from their vessels. With their NjordLINK device connected to a boat’s NMEA 2000 network, updated data points like current position, water depth, and wind conditions flow seamlessly to devices.
Through the new AnchorSafe feature, boaters receive instant, precise alerts on their smartphones the moment any drift is detected. By integrating cloud-based AI and edge data into NjordLINK, Viam enables AnchorSafe to monitor a boat’s position, track movements, and notify users instantly if the anchor shifts—all within the palm of their hands. Digital Yacht’s robust reputation for advanced vessel tracking systems, now enhanced by AnchorSafe’s smart technology, ensures that boaters can walk away from their boats knowing they’ll be alerted immediately if conditions change.
This collaboration between Viam and Digital Yacht exemplifies Viam’s commitment to accessible, real-world tech solutions, transforming AI and edge data into practical tools that seamlessly bridge the physical and digital worlds and, in this case, give boaters confidence in every journey.
Viam helps Digital Yacht quickly build a solution
In just a few short weeks, Viam and Digital Yacht worked together to get the AnchorSafe capability into the NjordLINK app. Viam’s plug-and-play backend pipelines for machine data capture and analytics allowed Digital Yacht to move quickly on feature development and deployment for the app. Once Viam’s hardware-agnostic server was installed onto the NjordLINK monitoring device, it could seamlessly and securely transmit key data from the boat to customers’ mobile phones.
The Viam-powered AnchorSafe feature provides two chief functionalities for the NjordLINK app:
- AnchorSafe can help users prepare for an imminent anchoring event on a boat by suggesting safe anchoring spots based on depth, tide, and anchoring radius while adjusting for current conditions.
- Once anchored, AnchorSafe can then continuously monitor a boat’s position, tracking its drift radius around the anchor point.
The way this works is that the NjordLINK system connects to a boater’s smartphone, using Viam’s servers to process data gathered from the boat’s sensors and relay any changes in the boat’s position or environmental conditions. The app itself is paired with an onboard device that links to the boat’s navigation system and other electronics. In that way, if the boat nears a set drift limit, or if shallow depths pose a risk of running aground, the NjordLINK app sends prompt alerts via push notifications and text messages to keep users informed in real time—far quicker than traditional alarms, which can also go unheard or simply aren’t designed to notify the boater directly.
It’s a nice illustration of the kinds of real-world enhancements that Viam can help provide to everyday activities powered by machines; in this case, getting more data about boats into the hands of their owners results in a boater with greater peace of mind when they leave their vessel anchored by the shore.
Freedom on the water, supported by Viam
Viam was founded with the goal of simplifying the integration of intelligence and AI into the physical devices all around us, and making them smarter and more connected as a result. AnchorSafe is another example of how companies armed with the powerful engineering tooling can bring innovative products to market much faster, so that what was once “never going to happen” can become “in your pocket” in a heartbeat.
The Viam-powered NjordLINK isn’t just a new solution for monitoring anchor drift—it’s a step toward helping Digital Yacht to create a fully connected boating experience that offers an affordable yet potent solution to a long-standing worry. The NjordLINK app made its debut at this year’s Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show in Florida, the largest in-water boat show in the world. In the future, Digital Yacht and Viam are planning a suite of applications for the Njord Cloud that will provide an even more comprehensive array of insights into current boat status and conditions. With the Viam-enabled NjordLINK app now widely available, boaters now have access to reliable, real-time drift detection, bringing a new level of security and convenience to life on the water.
If you are interested in becoming an AnchorSafe early adopter, read more about the NjordLINK solution here.
