Patent Document ID: 20070250227
Application ID: 11650977
Patent Flag: 0

Claim One:
1. In a control system for controlling and monitoring a vessel with control signals to one or more actuators, a method for testing the control system comprising the sequential steps: one or more sensors sending one or more sensor signals in real time of over a sensor signal line to said control system; a control algorithm in said control system computing said control signals based on one or more of said sensor signals and sending said control signals over a control signal line to said actuators; disconnecting one or more of said sensor signals from one or more of said sensors so that the disconnected sensor signals do not flow to said control system; replacing one or more of said disconnected sensor signals with corresponding simulated sensor signals generated in a test laboratory that is remote with respect to said vessel; sending the simulated sensor signals over a communication line from the test laboratory to the vessel and over said sensor signal line to said control system; continuing computation of control signals in said control system based on said real and/or said simulated sensor signals, and sending said control signals over said communication line to said test laboratory.