A pilot project aboard a 165 m passenger ferry, the Sunflower Gold, has shown intelligent awareness and machine learning technologies can significantly improve navigational safety.
The project was carried out by Rolls-Royce (RR) and Japanese shipping company Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Ltd. (MOL).
Detecting Navigational Obstacles
Results from sea trials on the vessel, which operates night-time sailings between Kobe and Oita, Japan, found that the navigating officers were able to visually detect objects that would otherwise have been cloaked by the blackness of night.
The vessel navigates the Akashi Kaikyo, Bisan Seto and Kurushima Straits, some of the most challenging routes in the world. However, operations are more difficult during night-time crossings when these routes become heavily congested with fishing nets and small to mid-sized fishing vessels.
Iiro Lindborg, RR, General Manager Remote & Autonomous Solutions, said: 'During the trials the Intelligent Awareness system was able to detect all potential navigational obstacles, allowing the crew to mitigate against any safety risks during night crossings.'
Intelligent Awareness Sensors and LIDAR
RR installed an array of Intelligent Awareness sensors, thermal imaging cameras and its revolutionary Light Detection and Ranging (LIDAR) system on the vessel in April 2018, following the 2017 signing of a joint development agreement with MOL.
The technology was fused together to give the vessel’s bridge team day-time-like situational awareness of the surrounding area, providing enhanced decision-making capability and improving the safety of the vessel.
Machine Learning
Data obtained from this and other RR Intelligent Awareness (IA) projects will now be fed into the company’s machine learning algorithms to further develop the IA system, with the objective of putting a permanent installation aboard the Sunflower Gold later this year.
Data captured from tests onboard Finferries’ 65 m double-ended ferry Stella, which operates between Korpo and Houtskär in the Archipelago Sea on the southwest coast of Finland, will also be fed into the RR machine learning algorithm.
Picture: MOL's ferry Sunflower (from RR).
