FernBin

Remote-controlled, coordinated navigation in inland water vessel shipping

Within the scope of the subproject, methods for remote control of inland navigation vessels as well as assistance systems for remotely controlled vessel navigation will be developed, validated and implemented. A shore-based control station will be designed, which will have the necessary interfaces to the remotely controlled vessel, operating elements and user interfaces.
Both a real test ship and a digital twin of the test ship will be used for the development work. The test ship will be equipped with sensors to measure motion behavior and operational status. A digital twin of the test ship will be developed for functional tests and development of the individual components of the remote control system as well as for training ship's command personnel. In the shore-based control station, it faithfully reproduces the sailing behavior of the test ship.

Maneuvering models are being further developed that are required to calculate the trajectory of the test vessel in the digital twin and to predict the trajectories of other vessels. The trajectories of the other vessels will be predicted by assistance systems to be developed in order to detect possible collisions and to calculate the usable fairway width of the test vessel. Different methods will be developed and fused to predict the behavior of other vessels in order to ensure the highest possible safety. For this purpose, methods for indirect system identification of the maneuvering behavior from AIS data will be developed, among others.
The subproject includes the targeted investigation, evaluation and optimization of human-machine interaction and workflows. The developments will be tested virtually and on the real ship and verified in final tests. Finally, training concepts will be developed for the training of ship handling personnel for remotely operated ships and proposals for the adaptation of regulations will be elaborated.

Project duration:

42 Months (7/2020 – 12/2023)

Project supervisor at the Chair of Mechatronics:​

• Frédéric Etienne Kracht

Project partner

• DST - Development Centre for Ship Technology and Transport Systems

Participating chairs/departments at the UDE:

• Chair of Mechatronics (Prof. Schramm)
• Chair of Dynamics and Control (Prof. Söffker)

Belongs to profile focus of the Faculty of Engineering at the UDE:

• Human-Centered Cyber Physical Systems
• Smart Engineering

Link to the faculty (profile focus): www.uni-due.de/iw/en/research/psp.php

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