Self-driving technology is all the rage these days, with companies looking for ways Eliminates the need for a car drivertaxi and even trucks or trains. But the technology isn’t limited to dry land, and companies around the world are looking for new ways to eliminate the need for crew on container ships. Now, a BBC report has discovered Do it experts are working on building “safe and reliable” self-propelled ships for transporting goods across the waves.
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According to reports, a fertilizer company in Norway is working to slowly phase out the teams that operate one of the 80-meters (260-foot) container ship. Currently, the Yara Birkeland, which can carry up to 100 containers, operates with a crew of five on cruises along the Frier Fjord in southern Norway. But By the end of this year, the crew will be reduced to two, with the aim of dismantling the bridge completely in the next two years.
When that happens, the ship’s captain will be based at an onshore operations center, where they will take control remotely. monitor trips made by several ships at the same time. There, they will be able to intervene if necessary, but in general, the ships will simply go on their own.
In order to make the ship capable of sailing on its own, the ship’s owner Yara equipped it with sensor and camera scan the route it occupies the Frier Fjord. On the journey that Yara Birkeland makes twice a week, it collects data on the journey, conditions and surroundings.
Repeated journeys like these offer the perfect way to introduce autonomous ships into the system, the BBC says. In Norway, BBC reporting uncovered this Yara trip, as well as similar projects involving two battery powered self propelled barge in the Oslo Fjord, each operated by Nordic grocer Asko and a fourth container ship operating near Ålesund. All of these ships use technology from autonomous vehicle specialist Kongsberg.
“You can use autonomy to limit dangerous or boring tasks,” Marius Tannum, Associate Professor of Applied Autonomy at Southeastern University of Norway, tells the BBC.
“The Yara Birkeland project and the Asko barge project are bringing this technology to the real world and not just in a research lab, as we have been for many years.”
Gradually, the technology is being scaled up to work on much larger ships, including a pilot project that saw a 730-foot car ferry navigate and dock by itself. using automatic technology provided by Mitsubishi Shipbuilding Company.
But while technology continues to advance, experts the BBC spoke to have warned that there is one major obstacle that autonomous ships have yet to overcome: legislation. BBC reported:
“Existing legislation has been developed based on the assumption that equipment on board ships is controlled entirely by hand,” said Sinikka Hartonen, adding that the International Maritime Organization is currently working towards a framework.
“This regulation is completely new territory for maritime authorities and politicians in Norway. Yara project manager Jon Sletten says what they do will have international consequences.
Once the regulatory framework is in place for autonomous ships to cross the ocean, experts predict the technology will evolve at a rapid pace. The next step will be to develop “robust” propulsion systems that require no maintenance mid-cruise.
Ultimately, engineers will need to demonstrate that the ship is self-propelled.”well done, if not better“a ship with a crew on board. Once that happens, the technology could become widespread much faster than self-driving cars or trucks.
