Tocaro Blue Yacht Security and Monitoring

The Tocaro Blue Master Chief system is a suite of sensors used to monitor important metrics for boat owners, boat manufacturers, and marinas. The system is designed to empower vessel owners with real time information including GPS position, Battery Voltage, Bilge Level, Climate monitoring, Entry sensors, and NMEA 2000. With this information at their fingertips boat owners and fleet managers can make practical decisions like whether or not they need to plug the boat in to shore power or if the ballast tanks are full.

With the Master Chief System you can now track these metrics from anywhere in the world with WIFI or cell signal using the Tocaro blue app. The app displays information from the sensors installed on the boat and lets you set alerts – just like a home alarm system or other smart home systems you may be familiar with. You can now know when someone enters your boat, when it travels outside of a defined area, when the temperature changes in one of the rooms, when the ballast tanks are empty or full, and when your batteries need charging or replacing.

This information gives boat owners peace of mind and enables them to maintain their boats properly. MOXIE was enlisted to design the hardware devices used by in the Master Chief System, the wireless communications protocols, and IoT Networking (MQTT) and has enjoyed the extensive partnership with the Tocaro Blue team.

A good day for IoT testing with Tocaro Blue marine monitoring

The Gateway & Local Bluetooth MESH Network

At the heart of the Master Chief System is the Gateway. Gateways are an important design concept in IoT systems:  it allows a collection of different sensors to all share a single point of access to the internet and manages sensor communications.  The Tocaro Gateway has the ability to transmit data to the internet via a cellular or WIFI connection, and locally with a BLE connection to the Tocaro Blue app. For the Marine market, this gateway also incorporates an Iridium Satellite Transceiver so that it stays connected to the Tocaro servers even when far out at sea.

A Tocaro Blue Masterchief Gateway, surrounded by the wireless sensors

The Gateway interfaces with the sensors using Moxie’s proprietary Bluetooth 5 MESH. All of the sensors installed on the boat are connected to the MESH which provides secure communication across the entire vessel and extends the range of the wireless communications by relaying messages from sensor to sensor along the boat. Even if one sensor fails, the others can re-transmit messages to ensure they are delivered to the Gateway.

The IoT network includes the MESH network, the Masterchief Gateway, and the network which allows users to see their data via Bluetooth (BLE) or through the internet

Sensor Design

Some sensors on the MESH are similar to typical smart-home sensors, like temperature and door open/close. But most are special devices for marine conditions. Battery level is a critical indicator for vessels that have a living space with electrical, especially to monitor whether batteries are being charged appropriately when connected to shore power. Fluid Level sensors are used to ensure the boat is not leaking and is pumping bilge water at expected intervals. Environmental sensors help ensure the boat interior is maintained at low humidity, safe away from corrosive salt air.

a waterproof sensor designed to monitor temperature and humidity.
It’s critical to design sensors for durability in their environment – here an environmental sensor tested in an environmental chamber is nearly sealed in evaporated salt-water.

Companion App – Tocaro Live

The Tocaro Live app allows boat owners to choose what they want to monitor, making the Master Chief system configurable to each owner’s preferences. Because the app is directly connected to an MQTT network, it receives updates from sensors within seconds of any changes, so users are alerted immediately to any alerts.

A Comprehensive Vessel monitoring Solution.

The Master Chief System is an elegant solution to a complex problem in a harsh environment. While new boats are coming with more and more integrated sensors, there as not been a system for retrofitting older vessels with modern monitoring technology until now. MOXIE takes pride in the work we have done with Tocaro Blue to design this comprehensive system. We cannot wait to see how the boat ownership experience improves as Tocaro sells more of these systems to mariners around the world!