FURUNO, in close collaboration with Nippon Yusen Kaisha, MTI Co. Ltd., Japan Marine Science Inc., as well as Japan Radio Co., Ltd., and Tokyo Keiki Inc., announced, under the auspices of Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) and Nippon Kaiji Kyokai (ClassNK), the partial findings from the study in collision risk judgement and the autonomous operation of vessels as part of the support project organized by MLIT, called, "Support Projects for R&D in Advanced Safety Technology of Vessels".
Simulation room where the data of how captains would determine to avoid collision is collected
Nippon Yusen Kaisha, the leading proponent of the study project, together with five aforementioned co-proponents have been conducting the study, aiming at alleviating administrative burden of the crew members as well as further enhancing navigation safety. The topics under study include functionalities to facilitate judgement related to avoiding collision risks, remote vessel operation by land operators, and development of navigation tools utilizing augmented reality (AR) technology. Amongst these, the status report from the study on the functionalities to facilitate judgement related to avoiding collision risks was announced.
The study used the large ship-handling simulator to monitor how experienced captains of large merchant vessels would avoid the collision risk and accumulated the data into the data base. The vessel operators have hitherto predicted and judged the risk of collision based upon their own experience, but the sense of danger differs by persons. The use of accumulated data to develop common standards with respect to risk assessment would provide decision support to operators in judging the risk and subsequently in reducing and preventing collisions in the future.
Top: Demonstration made by FURUNO staff members, Under: Representatives from the companies participating in the project
General overview of research activity for autonomous operation of vessels