We made
Bluethooth® Mesh work
work for Hella Marine.
What’s a party boat without festive lights?
That’s the opportunity Hella Marine identified when they set about delivering the “X-factor” for a growing market segment – the US-based party boat fleet.
The brief to Virscient was for a lighting rig that could be programmable, customizable, and foolproof – able to be managed by low-tech operators!
They needed a cloudless, wireless Bluetooth Mesh access control solution for a number of reasons. Significant challenges are posed by mixing a marine environment with a set of delicate electronic devices. Finally, the solution would also need to be easy to install for both OEMs and DIY customers.
The Solution: A Smarter Mesh Network
Drawing on deep wireless technology expertise, Virscient developed a proprietary Bluetooth mesh solution to help solve this challenge: a lightweight, fully distributed, decentralised Bluetooth® mesh solution that’s perfect for harsh, connectivity-challenged environments.
While conventional mesh networks can provide excellent scalability and redundancy, they often introduce their own complexity. Secure exchange of network keys, provisioning devices, proxy node design, and highly accurate time synchronisation are just a few examples of the pitfalls system designers must address. These challenges are typically managed by a reliable internet connection – but in Hella’s use case this would not be available as the party pontoon fleet would be out of range.
Virscient’s solution requires no internet connection and no pairing. Instead, operators simply needed the mesh network’s name and a password, which they could enter on their smartphones to gain instant access to the lighting control system.
How Virscient delivered
Virscient’s creative approach to mesh technology transformed Hella’s original vision into a solution that delivered all the features the client needed—and more:
- Simple Onboarding and Operation:
Using an intuitive smartphone app, installers could scan for nearby devices and connect securely—without special training, provisioning hardware, or complex configurations. - Robust Decentralisation:
The mesh state was stored within the network itself, ensuring that any node could re-establish the configuration even if part of the system was powered down or disconnected. - High-Precision Synchronisation:
Hella’s unique solution maintained self-healing time synchronisation accuracy within <5 ms across all nodes—critical for dynamic lighting effects that depended on perfectly timed sequences. - Scalability and Cost Efficiency:
Because Virscient’s solution for Hella runs on low-cost Bluetooth® hardware and requires only a single MCU per node, unit costs were kept low – an appealing factor for the intended market. - Security Without Complexity:
The network supported secure authentication and encryption, but without the burden of pairing or manual key exchanges—ideal for a system intended for non-technical operators.
“Virscient quickly built a strong relationship with us, based on mutual trust. This meant we were able establish alignment on the scope of work fast and manage changes without any drama.”
– Hella Project Manager
The Outcome:
Lights, Action, and Effortless Control
This client achieved exactly what they envisioned: a high-impact, fully customisable lighting experience that could be deployed and operated with minimal fuss. This functionality has become a striking differentiator in their market—instantly recognisable and reliably spectacular, night after night.
This project underscored how the right technology can combine performance, usability, and cost-efficiency, even in the most challenging environments.
Why Virscient?
If you’re tackling wireless control, monitoring, or data sharing in settings where internet connectivity is unreliable, Virscient’s proprietary mesh solution can give you the simplicity and robustness you need without compromising scalability, security, or performance.
Whether it’s smart lighting on a luxury boat, rural IoT sensors, or large-scale asset tracking, the solution that Virscient developed for Hella Marine is proof that elegant solutions do exist for complex wireless challenges.
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We made Bluetooth Mesh work for Hella Marine. How can we help you?