BUILT WITH Qt

BEP Marine

CZone Digital Switching

BEP Marine Chooses Qt to Empower Agile Development and Create User Interfaces for Their CZone System.

BEP Marine, based in Auckland, New Zealand, manufactures a range of high-quality electrical solutions designed for maritime vessels and mobile automotive. BEP Marine is part of Power Products, LLC, a global manufacturer and supplier of electrical products for construction and maintenance, recreational marine and specialty vehicles, industrial power, and transportation. BEP Marine's Auckland-based engineering team is responsible for their flagship offering, CZone. CZone is digital switching which provides automation of a vessel or vehicle electrical system, offering complete control and monitoring, making operation simple and hassle-free for the user.

Larger companies would usually have a big team of developers working on these apps. Creating a version for another platform is easy – almost like a magic trick.

Jeremy Stott, Software Engineer, BEP Marine

Goals

Maximum performance in extreme conditions

Outstanding user experience

Minimal system footprint

Support for various target devices and operating systems, enabling control of the same systems with a smartphone or tablet

Easy demoing and prototyping

Agile development processes within small teams

Results

BEP Marine delivers systems to yacht manufacturers such as Riviera, who expect and require nothing but the best from their suppliers
All the products are designed to easily integrate into simple or comprehensive electrical systems
CZone designers also used Qt Designer to create product demos to show to customers and product owners. This way, CZone could react quickly to feedback on colors, size and positioning and image elements like gradients, and make adjustments on the fly — avoiding time-consuming image manipulation
Developers and designers work in a seamless flow, maintaining the outcome quality

Their systems have to operate in extreme conditions. This means that optimal performance, user experience, and a minimal system footprint are a priority in their development process. The intrepid kiwis aren't shy about field-testing their own technology either: they completed the Volvo Ocean Race in 2011 in their self-built sailboat called “Camper”. What better way to test the reliability of your technology than taking it on a cruise to both the hottest and coldest climates on earth?

Moving to digital switching also means that you interact with the system in a different way — from physical interaction with a myriad of different buttons, knobs, levers, and pulleys to a streamlined and intuitive virtual interaction. Qt has become an integral part of CZone development for several reasons.

User interface requirements change quickly. Qt's QML allows us to better decouple the UI from the backend, giving us the ability to easily adapt to UI changes and present them to the customer, thus reducing the feedback time between the customer and developer.

Justin Spence, Embedded Systems Engineer, BEP Marine

Agile Development in Ship-Shape

CZone has a rather small development team, meaning tools that support agile development are important. Developers work directly with an internal Designer. The Designer creates initial mock-ups with the Product Owner using typical graphic design tools such as Adobe Illustrator. These initial designs serve the purpose of capturing the look and feel of the UI. The Product Owner, Designer, and Developers then work collaboratively to implement the design. Improvements are made incrementally throughout the entire design process. Qt's QML helps the development team respond to these changes and provide feedback in an easy and fast manner.

After the base design phase is over, the designer's job is done and the developer takes over. The individual assets and components are imported into Qt. They can apply further changes to the graphics within Qt Quick Designer. The developer can later tinker with the size of the assets without suffering quality loss.

CZone designers also used Qt Designer to create product demos to show to customers and product owners. This way, CZone could react quickly to feedback on colors, size and positioning and image elements like gradients and make adjustments on the fly. This avoids time-consuming image manipulation.

Qt's cross-platform capabilities have benefited CZone development by making porting the application to other platforms a breeze. Using this technology, CZone is developing apps using the same code base for Android and iOS devices, so you can control the same systems with your smartphone or tablet.

About BEP Marine

BEP engineers and manufactures a range of high-quality electrical solutions designed for the harsh Marine and RV environments. Every product they make meets exacting performance specifications and is designed to withstand extreme conditions, both at sea and on land.

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