Analyzing the Feasibility of an Unmanned Cargo Ship for Different Operational Phases

The maritime industry has begun to look into autonomous ships as an alternative to conventional ships due to growing pressure to reduce the environmental impact of maritime transportation, to increase safety, to mitigate the growing challenges in recruiting seafarers, and to increase profit margins. There is a lot of research on the challenges and feasibilities of an autonomous ship. However, there is less discussion on the transition from manned to unmanned ships and the tasks that are feasible to automate before the whole ship is unmanned. This paper investigates the technical and regulatory feasibility of automating different tasks for different operational phases for a large cargo ship. This study shows that a fully unmanned cargo ship is not feasible today, but that some tasks can be automated within the next five years.publishedVersio

A gap analysis for automated cargo handling operations with geared vessels frequenting small sized ports

With the Yara Birkeland, the world’s first autonomous cargo ship developed for commercial use, nearing regular unmanned operation, it is crucial to assess the availability and readiness of unmanned cargo handling solutions. While there are already fully automated container terminals at large international ports, the purpose of this study is to consider solutions to support autonomous ships for small sized ports with little infrastructure, typical of coastal harbors in Norway. The analysis centers on geared cargo vessels that can navigate such ports with minimal or no crew onboard, and the primary method used involved workshops and interviews with personnel from relevant industries. An important finding is the lack of skilled crane operators that are willing to follow the ship. The study concludes that it is important to address the following 3 key technological gaps: (1) the autonomous connection and release of break-bulk, (2) automatic securing and lashing of onboard cargo, and (3) shipboard cranes that can operate without an onsite crane operator.publishedVersio

Evaluation of an autonomous, short sea shipping feeder-loop service through advanced simulations

Traditionally, container-freight being shipped from central Europe to the coast of Norway has been transported either by road, or by larger containerships to central ports. For the past 3 years the AEGIS consortium has worked to develop a new, disruptive short sea shipping feeder-loop service based on mother and daughter ships [1]. The hypothesis is that introducing smaller, autonomous, battery-powered vessels into the fjords of Norway would open new business areas, provide access to remote regions, and allow shipping companies to take on cargo that could not previously be transported by water. Such a transport system has the potential of reducing cost, GHG emissions and external costs, while increasing frequency of service and the waterborne cargo volume in Europe. One of the main challenges of the mother-daughter logistic system is how transshipment affects defined key performance indicators (KPIs), especially in terms of cost. For this purpose, the SIMPACT tool [2] was developed in the H2020 projects AEGIS and AUTOSHIP. The tool allows for rapid iterations of maritime logistic systems through discrete event scheduling, and estimation of energy, fuel, emission, and cost. This paper will present results from a case-study on two different daughter ship concepts. The concepts are evaluated through cost and environmental KPIs presented in [1], in addition to external costs based on the European handbook on the external costs of transport [3]. Results from the case-studies indicate that transport systems including green daughter-vessels have the potential of being cost competitive and would lower externalities compared to the baseline truck transportation system.publishedVersio

Eurobot 2008

Eurobot Open er en internasjonal robotkonkurranse for studenter og uavhengige organisasjoner, som arrangeres i Europa i mai hvert år. Institutt for teknisk kybernetikk har deltatt hvert år siden 2000, gjennom prosjekt- og diplomoppgaver. I 2008 foregikk konkurransen i Heidelberg, Tyskland, under tittelen "Mission to Mars". Oppgaven gikk i korte trekk ut på å plukke opp og samle steinprøver, i form av innebandyballer, i et eget depot. Dette arbeidet har hatt til hensikt å fullføre roboten ved å utvikle og gjennomføre de systemene som trengs for å delta i konkurrasen. Gjennom prosjektoppgaven høsten 2007, har undertegnede utviklet en del basisfunksjonalitet på roboten, som det nå er bygget videre på. Posisjoneringen av roboten er grundig gjennomgått, og det har vært fokus på å utvikle et absolutt posisjoneringssystem basert på triangulering med 3 faste sendere. Systemet er basert på et ferdig konsept, men det har vært jobbet mye med hardware og ny software har blitt utviklet. Til slutt har det hele blitt testet, noe som har vist presise posisjoneringsresultater. Avlesning av vinklene til trianguleringen viste seg imidlertid å ta litt tid, slik at dette må gjøres når roboten står stille på bordet. Pga. tidsbruk og taktikk ble det kun brukt en sender under selve konkurransen. Navigasjonssystemet har stort sett blitt videreført fra tidligere, men det er lagt til mye ny funksjonalitet som gjør manøvreringen på spillebordet mer fleksibel. Det kan bla. nevnes rygging, hastighetsstyring og avstandsregulering mot kant. Endringene har fungert bra og vist seg svært nyttig i konkurransesammenheng. Den kunstige intelligensen har blitt basert på en rekke tilgjengelige strategier, der alle har den samme oppbygningen. Fokus har vært på en enkel og strukturert AI der robusthet og repeterbarhet har vært nøkkelordene. Rammeverket med en overordnet styring og fleksible strategier fungerte bra både under testing og konkurranse. Testing av AI ble i utgangspunktet gjort mot en simulator, noe som er mer effektivt enn å teste mot den fysiske roboten. Antikollisjonssystemet er basert på fjorårets system og en rekke endringer har blitt gjennomført. De viktigste endringene er å ikke benytte Ir til kollisjonsdeteksjon, i tillegg til å legge til antikollisjonslogikk i AI. Tiltak som deaktivering av antikollisjon i definerte soner, og utarbeidingen av en unnamanøvringsalgoritme har gjort systemet mer robust enn tidligere. Datasynet er videreutviklet med utgangspunkt i fjorårets kode og benytter Hough-transformen til å finne baller. Ballene er sirkler i et bilde. Kameraet klarte fint å gjenkjenne baller foran roboten, både når roboten stod stille og når den var i bevegelse. Kamerakoden la utgangspunktet for den ene AI-strategien som var å lete etter baller på bordet. Underveis har det vært gjort en del adminstrativt arbeide, som organisering av EiT, økonomi, reise til Tyskland etc. I tillegg ligger det mye arbeid bak å koble alle delmodulene sammen i roboten på en fornuftig måte. Arbeidet har tatt mye tid, men dette har vært helt nødvendig for å kunne framlegge et fungerende system til slutt. Omfattende testing og resultater fra konkurransen viser at totalsystemet på roboten er veldig robust. Kommunikasjonen mellom modulene har fungert bra og mange feil ble luket bort under testingen. Dessverre greide ikke roboten å hevde seg i konkurransen grunnet tilfeldige feil. Roboten vant 2 av 5 kamper, og tapte de resterende pga. en skrue som falt av dekselet, en startsnor som ikke trigget startinterruptet og "jamming" av baller i sorteringsmodulen. På tross av et dårlig resultat i konkurransen er undertegnede godt fornøyd med arbeidet som er gjort, og tror at fundamentet for neste år skal være bra. Feilene som oppstod var tilfeldige og vanskelige å gardere seg fullstendig mot

SIMPACT - SIMulation based ship concept imPACT evaluation tool

This report contains the user manual for the SIMPACT tool (SIMulation based ship concept imPACT evaluation tool) for evaluation of novel ship concepts. The tool consists of two sub tools. The logistics analysis tool (LA tool), and the MASS analysis tool (MA tool) for cost and emission analysis. SIMPACT can be used to make an initial design of a waterborne transport system and to evaluate the logistical performance through a set of KPIs. Furthermore, SIMPACT can estimate energy consumption for ships operating in the transport system, transported cargo volumes, emissions, and costs.publishedVersio

Assessing the resilience of sustainable autonomous shipping:New methodology, challenges, opportunities

This paper introduces a resilience assessment methodology for sustainable autonomous maritime transport networks developed by the European project entitled “Advanced, Efficient, and Green Intermodal Systems” (AEGIS). This problem being addressed in this paper concerns the investigation of threats, incidents, and risks in an autonomous- and sustainable shipping context, and the research question is the development of both preventive measures and reactive actions to maintain an acceptable level of operational constraints. The paper's methodology aids in designing sustainable logistics systems for highly automated waterborne transport, identifying threats and barriers to mitigate event consequences, thereby facilitating a seamless green transition. To examine the usability, this methodology is applied in a case study for cargo transportation, where we in this paper consider the maritime corridor between Trondheim and Rotterdam. The findings encompass the spectrum of possible actions to prevent and mitigate unwanted events and enhance resilience and flexibility. This can be used as a tool to respond to unwanted threats, enhance safety, and introduce new strategies. These results are deemed important as resilience is one of the prerequisites for the development of a sustainable transport system. This is true both for the companies that are engaged in the operation of such systems and for policymakers.</p

AEGIS D2.6: Roadmap for automated waterborne transport

This publication has been provided by members of the AEGIS consortium and is intended as input to the discussions on and development of new automated and autonomous waterborne transport systems. The content of the publication has been reviewed by the AEGIS participants but does not necessarily represent the views held or expressed by any individual member of the AEGIS consortium. While the information contained in the document is believed to be accurate, AEGIS participants make no warranty of any kind with regard to this material including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. None of AEGIS participants, their officers, employees, or agents shall be responsible, liable in negligence, or otherwise howsoever in respect of any inaccuracy or omission herein. Without derogating from the generality of the foregoing neither of AEGIS participants, their officers, employees or agents shall be liable for any direct, indirect, or consequential loss or damage caused by or arising from any information advice or inaccuracy or omission herein. The material in this publication can be reproduced provided that a proper reference is made to the title of this publication and to the AEGIS project (http://aegis.autonomous-ship.org/).publishedVersio