The RRS (Royal Research Ship) Sir David Attenborough, operated by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), is one of the world’s most advanced polar research vessels. Designed to support scientific work in some of the planet’s most challenging environments, the ship provides extensive onboard research facilities and a range of mission‑critical operational systems. As part of a planned technology refresh, BAS sought to modernise its onboard KVM and visual control capabilities with a system that could integrate seamlessly with the vessel’s distributed displays and video walls.
Datapath was brought into the project at an early stage to help evaluate requirements and confirm whether Aetria could meet the specific operational objectives. This engagement included a combination of remote consultations, in‑person meetings, and demonstrations of the Aetria platform. BAS then entered a collaborative design phase with Datapath’s sales, pre‑sales, and network engineering teams to develop a solution capable of supporting the vessel’s unique technical environment. With the vessel subject to tight docking schedules in the UK, initial hardware was purchased and commissioned at BAS headquarters, allowing teams to learn about the system before the vessel docked and installation was completed. Midwich and Logicalis supported the purchase process, and training was provided to BAS on how to commission Aetria, with the Datapath team supporting remotely when equipment was then moved onboard.
The deployment comprises 11 Aetria Workstations and makes use of three VSN Series video wall controller platforms to integrate video and data sources onto the vessel’s displays. Four VSN300 systems were configured to support operator-focused visualisation, while VSNMicro 600 systems were deployed on decks 5 and 8 and a VSN V3 system on deck 3, providing greater expansion capacity and higher numbers of 4K outputs to support larger and more complex displays on board. Across these platforms, the installation incorporates six Image4K graphics cards, 17 IQS4 IP video splitters, 12 VisionSC‑A2 capture cards, and three ActiveSQX2 encode/decode cards. The system is supported by two Aetria Network Managers with unlimited licensing, configured as a high-availability pair for additional redundancy measures. Aligo RX100 receivers and Aligo TX100 KVM-over-IP transmitters complete the installation, enabling flexible and centrally managed visual operations. “Datapath was extremely helpful with the installation and ensured everything was implemented to a high standard,” says Kinzie Orton, HPC Solution Architect for British Antarctic Survey. “We’re extremely impressed with the Datapath equipment, and the feedback from users is that the system is robust and very easy to use. The system has already been used on its first outing to support Antarctic science, and the ship is now on its way deep into the Antarctic ice for its second deployment, where it will be used to control a variety of science systems”
“It was a pleasure working with the British Antarctic Survey team,” says Adam Marsden, Sales Manager at Datapath. “They had a very clear understanding of what they needed to achieve and communicated this effectively, enabling our pre‑sales and networking teams to produce a design that delivered the desired outcome. Aetria was well suited to the RRS Sir David Attenborough due to its configurability and display flexibility, supporting the scale and number of inputs required for advanced scientific operations. All Datapath hardware was custom‑built to order at our UK headquarters, ready for installation. This flexibility we offer, combined with security, reliability, and ongoing support, allowed us to meet the requirements of this prestigious project.”
