New Al System could prevent vessel collisions by
reducing dependence on ship Captain
Researchers at Texas A&M University have created an
intelligent Al system that can help prevent accidents and
collisions at sea. Named 'Ship Collision Avoidance of
Machine Learning and Radar Technology for Stationary
Entities and Avoidance', or SMART-SEA, the platform
works to decrease the dependence on ship captains.
The project team was led by Dr Mirjan Fürth, an assistant
professor of ocean engineering, who was awarded a
contract by the US Department of the Interior (DOI) and
the US Department of Energy (DOE) through the Ocean
Energy Safety Institute (OESI). It is not completely an
autonomous system, rather it provides 'a human-in-theloop', who gives real-time instructions based on maritime
traffic weather and other factors.
This makes navigation safer and easier for the crew,
transiting crucial or dangerous waterways by providing
additional information and instructions. Collisions between
vessels and accidents like ships hitting stationary
structures like rigs or lighthouses are becoming common,
and most are caused by human error. This Al system will
help eliminate that, stated the project team.
Massive vessels have a lot of forward momentum that
their shipping distances are measured in miles rather than
metres. They also turn very slowly, meaning that any
collision has to factor in this slow movement while also
adjusting for sensor time lags, ocean current impacts and
several other factors.
The Al system has been developed keeping all the abovementioned factors in mind and is extremely accurate. The
research team also said that the system combines raw
radar imaging data with machine learning, enabling it to
identify moving objects even in bad weather with limited
visibility.
The machine learning algorithm detects stationary objects
as well from a large distance. The system uses
computational fluid dynamics models and machine
learning, which have been previously trained on vessel
motions, the team added. The system does all of this
while complying with International Regulations for
Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs).
(From: <https://www.marineinsight.com/.../new-ai-system- could.../>)
