Exploring Modeling and Simulation

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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Modeling and simulation is the practice of using a physics-based, virtual representation of a physical system or process — such as an individual component, electro-mechanical system or vessel system-of-systems — to make data-driven decisions or predictions about the performance and behavior of the system. Virtual models can be robustly analyzed, configured and tested in a safe and cost-effective way compared to live tests on the real system.

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Performing simulations on complex models can require substantial computing power, which has limited its accessibility and uses in the past. Moving the process to cloud computing systems reduces the need for expensive on-site servers, while edge systems provide improved latency ideal for real-time monitoring and processing of data.

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Improving asset connectivity will serve as a crucial foundation for expanding the use of cloud and edge systems at sea. Providing assets with reliable, fast and high-bandwidth communication options is mission-critical to enabling simulation-based decision-making.

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Looking Into the Future

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Ship design and engineering are undergoing a critical paradigm change in this decade. Between decarbonization and digitalization, vessels and offshore assets will increasingly become a system of systems. In the design and engineering process, the designer must take a holistic full life-cycle view of the asset.

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While modeling and simulation offer a significant step in improving engineering and design processes, the rapid concurrent growth of maritime asset connectivity, cloud computing accessibility and edge computing power represents a leap forward beyond the design phase, bringing simulation-based decision-making to real-time situations.

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Cloud technology allows the modeling and simulation to be performed at greater scale, complexity and speed. When fed with operational data, models can be fine-tuned to reflect real-life conditions. Modeling and simulation in the cloud serve as the central knowledge base for producing more advanced algorithms and models, which are then pushed to edge devices through reduced-order modeling. These reduced-order models, trained by the corresponding simulation models, can continuously analyze and optimize data from sensors on a system.

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Evolving communications technologies such as low earth orbit (LEO) satellites, high altitude platform stations (HAPS), and wireless optical systems will be essential to providing the level of connectivity needed between cloud and edge systems.

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On board an offshore asset or marine vessel, edge systems could be used to discover inefficiencies or even predict system failures before they happen. Early detection of a possible problem could help to reduce the chances of a catastrophic failure, saving excess costs and downtime.

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In the coming years, modeling and simulations enabled by the growth of cloud and edge technologies and increased asset connectivity will evolve to form a crucial part of the knowledge base for digital twins, which are detailed elsewhere in this publication. These systems have the potential to combine with artificial intelligence to support decision-making, leading to previously unrealized operational efficiencies and improved safety.

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