Robot-ships sailed a nautical mile closer to reality last week when Korean shipbuilder, Samsung Heavy Industries, carried out a successful voyage with ship equipped with the company’s autonomous navigation technology.
Samsung installed its own technology and smart ship system on a 15,000 TEU box ships built at Geoje shipyard, Korea. The vessel then departed the shipyard on 26 June, passed by Jeju Island and finished its journey near the port of Kaohsiung, Taiwan – a distance of approximately 1,500km in a roughly south-west-by-south direction.
The vessel accurately identified more than 9,000 obstacles such as ships and buoys within a 50km radius and suggested a safe detour when it encountered approximately 90 ships. Samsung added that the vessel successfully passed high-level tests, such as accurately suggesting a safe avoidance path in the case of head-on or crossing approaches. More than 90% of the routes chosen by the autonomous system were consistent with routes chosen by experienced navigators.
“We proved SHI’s advanced autonomous navigation technology with the successful demonstration not only on Jeju island and Dokdo, but also on global routes” said Kim Hyun-jo, director of SHI’s autonomous operation research center, “We will continue to take a lead in autonomous operation and smart ship technologies with R&D”
The system aboard the vessel integrated navigation technologies such as AIS, radar, camera sensors, and sensor fusion.
