R&D project: Detection, prediction, and solutions for safe operations of MASS
acronym: ENDURE
Agreement No: NOR/POLNOR/ENDURE/0019/2019-00
The project is financed by the Norway Grants programme
Abstract
The autonomous shipping of the future is attracting a great deal of interest and attention in numerous countries. Much of this development is driven by recent technological advances. However, there are many concerns and unanswered questions, for example, regarding the safety of future autonomous ships and shipping in general. To avoid an accident, it must be detected early enough to allow sufficient time to assess the situation and take action. For this purpose, appropriate knowledge-based criteria are essential, but are currently lacking. Therefore, in this project we try to address the problem of assessment and evaluation of operational safety criteria in the areas of 1) collision and grounding avoidance; 2) avoidance of stability incidents mainly related to ship dynamics. For this purpose, the following advanced modeling tools are used: ship motion model with 6 degrees of freedom (DoF), encounter simulator, collision avoidance model. All this is complemented by the knowledge of experts. To develop the criteria for a safe collision and collision avoidance maneuver, the concept of CADCA (Collision Avoidance Dynamic Critical Area) is used. In it, a safe maneuvering area for collisions and groundings is developed for a variety of situations using a 6-DoF ship motion model and an encounter simulator. The ship dynamic stability safety criteria are related to a predefined set of stability failure conditions. In this way, the conditions that lead to excessive roll within a short time horizon can be determined by having the control algorithms use real-time measurements of the ship’s motions to provide information on the immediate need fora course and speed change. Then, the criteria are implemented in the algorithm for planning a safe course. Finally, the likely impact of the new developments on accident risk will be measured.