About the project

Diadrom have developed diagnostic systems for Volvo Penta for more than ten years. During this period, Volvo Penta has completely changed its product range. Today, software is an important part of virtually all Volvo Penta products. For all service, maintenance or repair scenarios, a diagnostic system is necessary. The tool used within Volvo Penta is called VODIA.

One of the great challenges in recent years has been to provide support for the product IPS. This great innovation changes the traditional method where water is forced backwards by the propeller, to where water is sucked from the front; an aquadynamic challenge!

IPS is based on an electric motor that controls the drive. The electric motor is controlled by software. Previous attempts with mechanical solutions did not meet the requirements of manoeuvrability and safety. The benefits of IPS are many and they are well described at Volvo Penta’s web page IPS.

The role of Diadrom

There are also other major challenges that are not directly related to driving capabilities. Builders around the world must be able to install IPS safely and dealer service personnel must effectively be able to perform service, repair and maintenance. Diadrom helped Volvo Penta to create solutions for this, for example:

Calibration. Boat builders of different levels of technical maturity must have the same ability to install IPS. Each installation becomes unique because boats have different shapes and the IPS drive is installed differently. A solution to this problem is to use the diagnostic tool VODIA to calibrate the controller, and thereby compensate for minor errors (for example, that a drive has been mounted obliquely 0.2 degrees)

Delivery Contract. That the boat is correctly configured is extremely important from a safety perspective. All critical settings made are checked and stored in Volvo’s central systems. The installer is responsible for ensuring that the work is correctly done and documented. This certificate is delivered as a part of the documentation of the delivered boat.

Smooth provision of spare parts. If a controller fails and must be replaced (e.g. because of a lightning strike) it can be replaced without repeating all the costly and time-consuming calibrations. This is possible thanks to an elaborate process supported by IT systems interacting with product development, manufacturing and aftermarket processes.