SCP2-GA-2012-3142862012-09-01 to 2015-08-31

Towards the unmanned merchant ship:

The MUNIN Project

Ørnulf Jan RØDSETH, Research DirectorMARINTEK Dept. Maritime Transport Systems

OrnulfJan.Rodseth@marintek.sintef.no

http://www.unmanned-ship.org

3rd Workshop on European Unmanned Maritime SystemsPorto, May 30th 2014

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Content

Introduction to MUNIN

Rationale for unmanned ships

Problems with unmanned ship

Application in other domains

Conclusion and summary

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Introduction to MUNIN

Munin ("mind") is one of Odin's two ravens flying out in the morning and reporting news of the world to their master in the evening.

Hugin ("thought"), the other raven, isalso the name of a commercially successful autonomous submarine (AUV).

Here, MUNIN is the name of a new EU project researching theunmanned, autonomous ship.

Maritime Unmanned Navigation through Intelligence in Networks

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Partners in MUNIN

Fraunhofer CML (DE) – Research, Coordinator

MARINTEK (NO) – Research

Chalmers (SE) – University

Hochschule Wismar (DE) – University

Aptomar (NO) – Industry

MarineSoft (DE) – Industry

Marorka (IS) – Industry

University College Cork (IE) - University

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Project details

Duration: 01.09-2012 – 31.08.2015

Funding: 2.9 million EUR

Activity code: SST.2012.5.2-5:E-guided vessels: the 'autonomous' ship

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Objectives

Develop and test unmanned ship concepts

Main technical investigations on

Technical maintenance for high availability

Navigation support for unmanned bridge

Remote operations, shore coordination, including VTS/Pilot/SAR

Energy savings potential

Base case is medium size dry bulk carrier

Verify concept in system of simulators

Examine legal and contractual constraints

CBA and applications in today's shipping as well as other ship types

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Content

Introduction to MUNIN

Rationale for unmanned ships

Main problems with unmanned ship

Application in other domains

Conclusion and summary

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WaterBorne TP

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Autonomous Slow Steaming

Environmentally

Reduce CO2 emissions with 54%

Economically

Lower fuel costs (but higher hire)

Offset increased crew costs due to longer voyage

Societal

Make crew available for more demanding tasks, closer to home, offset lack of crew, increase job attractiveness

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New ship concepts

Source Rolls Royce Holdings

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New ship concepts

Source Rolls Royce Holdings

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Content

Introduction to MUNIN

Rationale for unmanned ships

Main problems with unmanned ship

Communication issues

Application in other domains

Conclusion and summary

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Communication technology andinformation transfer

Dependent on trade area and cost one have to expect varying degree of communication service (bandwidth, latency and reliability)!

AMVER July 2012: www.amver.org

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Lookout and collission avoidance

Radar and AIS are on board – enhancements are available.

Small object detection radar, IR cameras, low light cameras etc. are available.

Key challenges are to integrate sensors and to

classify objects automatically

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Manoeuvres in difficult conditions

Less of a problem for bulk carriers.

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System robustness

Today ship safety is to some degree based on the ability to repair equipment during voyage.

Autonomous ships need very high confidence level against critical failures during sea leg!

High reliability, redundancy and fail-to-safe mechanisms required!

New approaches to component redundancy as

well as preventive maintenance are required.

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Ship-shore coordination

Ship operator needs a central operations centre ashore.

Coordination with other entities when necessary:

Other (autonomous) ships

Pilot, VTS …

General ship reporting (FAL, SOLAS)

SAR

… New operational principles and procedures are required. Human factor is a challenge in shore side

remote operations.

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Legal and contractual issues

Who is in charge of the ship – no master ?

Flag state jurisdiction without master ?

COLREGS ?

Insurance and liability ?

Safety at sea – SAR ?

…

A major challenge: It will take time before we see the first fully autonomous ship!

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Piracy and hostile interference

Reduction of attractiveness

No crew to ransom

Cargo cannot easily be moved

Ship can be tracked

Countermeasures

Secure communication

Multi-layer navigation system

Fail to safe when communication fails

Protected access to control of ship

Address the challenges:Fit the use cases to the restrictions !

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Berth Departure Transit Approach Berth

Select:

Long deep-sea-voyage

Low risk cargo

Slow steaming attractiveness

Avoid complications near shore

Dry bulk ship on inter-continental voyage.LNG as fuel?

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Content

Introduction to MUNIN

Rationale for unmanned ships

Main problems with unmanned ship

Application in other domains

Conclusion and summary

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Limitations in communication services: Fallacies of distributed

computing assumptions

The network is reliable.

Latency is zero.

Bandwidth is infinite.

The network is secure.

Topology doesn't change.

There is one administrator.

Transport cost is zero.

The network is homogeneous.

L. Peter Deutsch, SUN Microsystems

We need better methods to integrate QoS of communication in distributed

systems design.

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The right level of autonomyDegree of autonomy

Degree of uncertaintyFlexible, known response

Simple and robust

Constrained freedom

Full freedom

Fail to safe

Automatic

Autonomous

Intelligent

Emergency stop

Route keeping

Collision avoidance

Onboard route planning

MUNIN Focus

Remote control

None

Shore side operation centre

Need a good method for responsibility sharing between AS

and human control

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Organisation of a Remote Control Centre

General case (Assumptions)1 SCC per 100 vessels

1 operator per 6 vessels1 supervisor per 30 vessels (5 operators)1 relieve operator (with workstation for 6 ships) per 30 ships1 situation room per 30 vessels1 engineer per 30 vessels1 captain per 30 ships

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Manage risk

Define manageable use cases

Remove complexity

Simplify operations

Provide redundancy

Quantify risks

Verify assumptions

…

Fail to safe

SCC: Initiate recovery

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Content

Introduction to MUNIN

Rationale for unmanned ships

Main problems with unmanned ship

Application in other domains

Conclusion and summary

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Is the autonomous ship possible?

Technology is mostly available: Need to be integrated and improved

Integration in maritime transport system is a challenge: Shore, other ships, SAR

Legal issues and liability clearly a potential show stopper today

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What can be transferred to other industry ?

General methods for design of industrial autonomous systems

Effects of communication QoS, better models of wireless QoS

Share of responsibilities between autonomous system and remote control: Level of autonomy?

Design of remote control centres

Risk reduction strategies

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… and afterwards to full scale tests!

Thank you for your attention!