Abstract
MARIN is a partner in the EU funded research project MOSES (“AutoMated Vessels and Supply Chain Optimisation for Sustainable Short SEa Shipping”). MARIN has designed an innovative container feeder vessel, including solutions for zero emission propulsion. The autonomous operation of this vessel was investigated using a two-step approach.
First, a time-domain simulation model of the ship was made. Algorithms for vehicle control and autonomous operation were designed, implemented and tested. The time-domain model included a large sea area with two ports (Mykonos and Piraeus) and an accurate model of the container feeder vessel, including all necessary sensors and actuators. The round-trip between two ports consists of several different sections, such as docking and undocking, port manoeuvring and transit in open sea. Each section required different capabilities of the ship, which were defined using operational states in a state machine.
Second, the simulated ship was replaced by a scale 1:17 physical model, while the software for autonomous control remained the same. The model was completely wireless, with its own on-board power supply. Measured signals were transferred to the basin carriage using a Wi-Fi connection. The scale model, during one of the experiments in the basin, is shown in the photograph in Figure 1. In the model basin, a schematic port was modelled, as the start and end point of its journeys. The ship model was able to successfully perform round-trips through the basin, including autonomous docking and undocking.
