Autonomous ships

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Fredthecharlie
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Autonomous ships

Post by Fredthecharlie »

It won't be long before we all need to have AIS receivers I have read reports of Large cargo ships being built with a view to no crew, trials initially with monitoring by a crew on board and later with just computer observation from shorebased offices; presumably after that, let loose on their own with instructions to use a route to a waypoint where they wait for docking instructions.
The Royal Institute of Naval Architects is holding a symposium in January on "Smart Ships" ,among the papers to be discussed is "Will the Smart Ship be Liable?"
How good will their detectors be at spotting small craft?
Food for thought
Fred

AYRSwebadmin
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Re: Autonomous ships

Post by AYRSwebadmin »

If aircraft experience is anything to go by - Not good at all!

One of the "side-effects" of developing collision-avoidance systems for aircraft (and most commercial aircraft today fly under autopilot, even when taking collision-avoidance action) was the development of a "cheap" and cheerful system for light aircraft so the big boys could both see them and know what they were doing.

Maybe we'll get the same for small boats (OK it already exists for big yachts but those systems are too big and expensive for my dinghy*)

Simon

(and dinghies can, and do, sail across the shipping tracks in the Solent, and even in some cases across the Channel to the Netherlands.)
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Robert Biegler
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Re: Autonomous ships

Post by Robert Biegler »

It won't be long before we all need to have AIS receivers I have read reports of Large cargo ships being built with a view to no crew, trials initially with monitoring by a crew on board and later with just computer observation from shorebased offices; presumably after that, let loose on their own with instructions to use a route to a waypoint where they wait for docking instructions.
The Royal Institute of Naval Architects is holding a symposium in January on "Smart Ships" ,among the papers to be discussed is "Will the Smart Ship be Liable?"
How good will their detectors be at spotting small craft?
Possibly better than what's going on now on some ships. The MS Olivia hit Nightingale Island, off Tristan da Cunha, having plotted a course right through it. The island has a 337m high peak on it. The radar echo was dismissed as rain clouds. Report here: http://www.tristandc.com/newsmsolivasafetyreport.php

If a manned ship can hit an reasonably large island, they can hit small vessels. Software might well do a better job of either keeping clear, or of alerting the other vessel.

How good an automated ship might be at assisting another vessel in distress, something that is hardly relevant for aircraft, is another question.

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