Marine
boat traffic has grown threefold in the past 100 years. As the seas
become more crowded the demand for autonomous solutions could not be
more relevant from a greater profits to increased safety. Allianz
Insurance reported
that over 75% of all boating accidents are the fault of human error,
often the result of fatigue. Rolls-Royce, a leading manufacturer of
automobiles, aerospace engines and maritime solutions estimates that
autonomous and remote-controlled vessels on open waters could one day
rival their terrestrial counterparts on the speed of adoption and
utility.
“Autonomous
shipping is the future of the maritime industry” ssaid Mikael Makinen,
president of Rolls-Royce’s marine division, in a white paper published by the company. “As disruptive as the smartphone, the smart ship will revolutionize the landscape of ship design and operations.”
While in the past
we have discussed many upstarts in the autonomous marine space,
Rolls-Royce is now leading the industry with its global research
project, the Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications
(AAWA), to deliver fully autonomous shipping vessels by the end of the
decade. The AAWA endeavor draws together the European Union’s MUNIN (Maritime Unmanned Navigation through Intelligence in Networks); DNV GL, and China’s Maritime Safety Administration & Wuhan University of Technology.
Each national group is bringing its own expertise to the table to
assess the varied requirements to bring fully autonomous shipping to a
commercial reality, including: software (navigation, collision
avoidance, off-board communications), certifications (legal, liability
& insurance) and societal changes (labor & business). A big
driver of the research is external pressure from the shipping industry,
including threats from pirates, increased cargo demands, and a shrinking
skilled workforce.
Rolls-Royce
Vice President of Marine Innovation Oskar Levander could not be more
adamant about his optimism for the project, “this is happening. It’s not
if, it’s when.” He explained, “The technologies needed to make remote
and autonomous ships already exist. The AAWA project is testing sensor
arrays in a range of operating and climatic conditions in Finland and
has created a simulated autonomous ship control system which allows the
behavior of the complete communication system to be explored. We will
see a remote controlled ship in commercial use by the end of the
decade.”
Levander’s
team is working on integrating a complete situational-awareness system
that combines sensors that are being installed in self-driving cars in
Detroit and Silicon Valley, such as infrared cameras, LIDAR and other
radar components. The AAWA group is exploring two command options for
utilizing the sensor data sets: 1) a remote-operations center led by a
human captain; and/or 2) onboard computer/deep learning network. In
either case, the human remote commander or its autonomous-navigation
system would tap into other situational inputs from satellites, weather
reports, radio broadcasts and other ship-to-ship reports. The idea of
computer aided systems is not new, crews have been using electronic aids
as part of their daily activities for decades. Already advanced systems plot out routes, assist
with decisions making, and monitor the ship’s machinery to ensure
critical functions are running at optimal performance.
Unlike
terrestrial vehicles, ocean communications have been hampered by
inconsistent broadband communications on the water. However, in August
2015, Inmarsat
launched its third Global Xpress satellite to provide broadband data
almost anywhere in the world. This was a game changer for the concept of
“uncrewed” ships navigating the seas. It also means that the risk from
cyber-criminals has now risen to a new threat level.
Jay
McFadden, Rolls-Royce senior vice president, admits that there are
still issues to solve. “We don’t yet have a perfect way of handling
every circumstance.”
While
Rolls-Royce has been making news in the industry it has yet to release a
fully autonomous vessel. The closest it has come is its “Unified
Bridge” technology that was showcased in August 2014 aboard the Stril Luna (above). Since
then, Rolls-Royce Unified Bridge system has been incorporated into
tugboats, mega yachts, polar research vessels, and new cruise ships.
While there are many competing standards almost everyone agrees that
“robot ghost ships” will need to involve a consortium of universities,
ship designers, equipment manufacturers, classification societies, and
governments.
Already,
the Norwegian Maritime Authority and the Norwegian Coastal
Administration have signed an agreement to permit sea trials of
autonomous boats in the Trondheim Fjord. Meanwhile in Finland, an
association called Finnish Marine Industries, the Ministry of Transport
and Communications, and Tekes (the Finnish Funding Agency for
Innovation) have joined Rolls-Royce and other companies to develop and
explore autonomous marine transport in the Baltic Sea. Rolls-Royce plans
to launch its first fully autonomous ship within the next three years,
and estimates that it will be commonplace on the high-seas by 2015.
In related news, Ford Motor Co. acquired a 50% ownership stake in artificial-intelligence startup Argo AI
for $1 billion to bolster its self-driving car technology arsenal last
week. The question in the maritime industry is when will these types of
investments hit the waves. To explore this issue and the implications it
could have within the greater society, come to our next #RobotLabNYC Event, The Societal Impact of Robotics, on March 2nd at 6pm.
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