Overview
Research and develop an OpenSensorHub (OSH) driver that receives and decodes AIS data from a ShipXplorer AIS device, making vessel tracking data available within an OSH node.
Hardware
The following hardware has been procured for development and testing:
- ShipXplorer AIS Dongle (RTL-SDR based)
- ShipXplorer AIS 162 MHz Outdoor Antenna (SMA Connector)
Architecture
The current approach for this driver follows a two-layer architecture that separates signal processing from data integration:
Layer 1 — Signal Processing (External, AIS-Catcher)
The host machine (Raspberry Pi, macOS, or Windows) will run AIS-Catcher, an open-source SDR tool responsible for:
- Accessing the ShipXplorer dongle over USB
- Tuning to AIS channels 161.975 MHz and 162.025 MHz
- Demodulating and decoding raw RF/IQ samples into AIS messages
- Forwarding decoded NMEA 0183 sentences (
!AIVDM / !AIVDO) over UDP
Layer 2 — Data Integration (OSH Driver)
The OSH driver will be responsible for:
- Connecting to the UDP stream produced by AIS-Catcher (configurable host/port)
- Parsing incoming NMEA 0183 AIS sentences
- Decoding AIS message payloads into structured data fields (MMSI, position, speed, heading, vessel name, etc.)
- Publishing decoded vessel data as an OSH datastream
References
Overview
Research and develop an OpenSensorHub (OSH) driver that receives and decodes AIS data from a ShipXplorer AIS device, making vessel tracking data available within an OSH node.
Hardware
The following hardware has been procured for development and testing:
Architecture
The current approach for this driver follows a two-layer architecture that separates signal processing from data integration:
Layer 1 — Signal Processing (External, AIS-Catcher)
The host machine (Raspberry Pi, macOS, or Windows) will run AIS-Catcher, an open-source SDR tool responsible for:
!AIVDM/!AIVDO) over UDPLayer 2 — Data Integration (OSH Driver)
The OSH driver will be responsible for:
References