DNV and partners launch SAFEMATE project
At the Nor-Shipping trade fair today, DNV, Kongsberg Maritime, Kongsberg Seatex, Bastø Fosen and NTNU announced the launch of the new SAFE Maritime Autonomous Technology (SAFEMATE) project. The RCN funded project will work on improving and assessing the safety and efficiency of autonomous navigation systems and deploy a pilot on an operational ferry, the Bastø VI, according to the company's release.
The promise of automating more functions in shipping shows great potential, and interest continues to grow throughout the industry as more projects are developed. For autonomous navigation, in particular, the technologies that support object detection and collision avoidance have the potential to enhance safety and efficiency across the whole industry.
For these technologies to be widely adopted, the systems not only need to be developed, but tools and processes that assess and assure their safe function must be in place. The SAFEMATE project is designed to cover both of these aspects and test automated systems to assist navigation, while keeping an operator in the loop.
The SAFEMATE project will focus on routing and collision avoidance, to create a system that is able to detect threats and obstacles in the marine environment, interpret this information, and communicate a solution to an on-board operator. The system will be tested though the use of simulators and with human operators in the loop and then will be deployed in full-scale trials on the Bastø VI, the Bastø Fosen ferry which operates between Moss and Horten.
SAFEMATE has been partially funded by the Research Counsel of Norway (RCN) through the MAROFF-2 program.
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