Royal Caribbean International’s majestic Icon of the Seas entered service on January 2024. It is the greatest cruise ship ever built, with a variety of features that make it iconic and innovative, including the door hinges. Antti Marine delivered over 3,200 e-hinges to certain types of stateroom doors onboard Icon.
The e-hinge and an online radio-frequency identification lock connect the door to the ship’s ethernet network. The lock is also supplied with electricity via the e-hinge using power over ethernet technology. The cabin key can then be used as an identifier for other purposes, such as when the passenger buys services onboard or in a partnered onshore resort.
Traditional systems leave the online cabling exposed when the door is open, making it vulnerable to accidental damage and vandalism. In Antti’s intelligent system, the cabling between the door leaf and the door frame is contained within an e-hinge. The cable is invisible and protected all the way through. Passengers will never know it’s there.
Antti Marine has thoroughly tested the functionality of the e-hinge according to the EN1935 standard for durability up to class 11, which is over 200,000 test cycles for an 80-kilogram door. The electronic operation of the e-hinge is tested in as many as three stages. First, it is tested mechanically and for its electronic features at the hinge manufacturer, then the wiring is tested in a pre-cabled hinge with RJ45 connectors and then the whole e-hinge is finally tested again when installed in the finished door. This extensive testing for the maintenance-free and corrosion-resistant e-hinge ensures the onboard functionality.
The e-hinge opens avenues into other options that help to improve safety, such as controlling the conditions of cabins via an ethernet network. For Antti, a door is never just a door; it is a platform to which novel smart functions can be connected.
Markko Takkinen is commercial director of Antti-Teollisuus.
This article was first published in the 2024 issue of Cruise & Ferry Interiors. All information was correct at the time of printing, but may since have changed. Subscribe for FREE to get the next issue delivered directly to your inbox.