Exploring Autonomous Functions

This is an excerpt from Technology Trends: Exploring the Future of Maritime Innovation, a broad-reaching report from ABS charting a course for the future of marine and offshore technologies. Read the full publication at https://www.eagle.org/techtrends

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Autonomous technology allows computers or machines to perform each of the four steps in the operational decision loop — consisting of monitoring, analysis, decision and action — without the need for human intervention. This technology possesses elements of machine intelligence, capable of deciding to take an action free from external control or influence. It could be used to perform a variety of tasks on board marine vessels or offshore assets.

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Remote control functions allow the system or operation being monitored to be controlled remotely by a human operator physically located in another vessel or in an onshore control station. This technology could initially serve as a bridge to fully autonomous functions but could also act as human-based monitoring or backup for autonomous systems.

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As with many aspects of digitalization, the advancement of autonomous and remote-control functions relies on improvements to a complex web of technologies, including connectivity, sensors and imaging technology, data management and analytics and machine learning and AI tools.

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Looking Into the Future

The implementation of autonomous and remote-control functions offers several benefits to the industry. The technology has the potential to enhance safety by reducing human involvement in high-risk operations. Initially, autonomous technology could be used to assist in repetitive or dangerous tasks, freeing a seafarer to focus on the overall health and performance of the entire system.

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As the technology matures and the industry gains more operational experience, more functions and tasks could be carried out autonomously. While the technology could lower operational expenses related to crew numbers, it could also help attract new talent to the maritime workforce as roles shift to monitoring and controlling systems remotely.

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The expanding use of autonomous and remote-control functions also has the potential to usher in a paradigm shift for vessel and offshore asset design. As human crew roles are altered or reduced, designs could be optimized to allocate more space and resources to the primary objective and less space to human habitability.

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Possible technological advancements in digitalization and sustainability can offer a radical portrait of future global fleets. A fully autonomous vessel, powered by marinized battery systems, could operate continuously within a global network of autonomous shipping routes for dozens of years with minimal human interaction.

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Autonomous vessels connected with each other through a standardized communication protocol — similar to how automatic identification systems (AIS) use self-organized time-division multiple access (SOTDMA) datalinks today — could potentially perform collaborative operations based on swarm behavior. With advanced perception sensors infused with AI, autonomous vessels could detect and identify non-autonomous vessels or obstacles with high accuracy day or night, ensuring the timely execution of collision avoidance maneuvers.

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Under any circumstances that the remote operator needs to take control of the vessel, such as for a navigation correction, the operator could use a digital twin to see a real-time visualization of the bridge for remote operations.

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A full ecosystem of autonomous vessels, smart ports, smart yards, smart buoys and smart beacons could optimize the supply chain and reduce the risk of incidents at sea.

Read the full publication at https://www.eagle.org/techtrends