Memorial University of Newfoundland

Purpose

The goal of this project is to develop a ‘constrained autonomous operation’ for marine autonomous surface ships (MASS) that will operate autonomously with continuous monitoring from an on-shore monitoring centre. Constrained autonomous operation has two main modules: (i) on-board navigation module and (ii) onshore operator station module. The on-board navigation module consists of a guidance system and a dynamic control system. The on-board navigation module will have the capability to autonomously navigate the ship, especially in the free water and under normal conditions. The onshore operator station’s function is to monitor the ship at all time, anticipate any abnormal situation, and, if required, take control of the ship to navigate out of the abnormal situation. Complementing each other, these two modules are expected to ensure efficient and safe navigation during varying operational conditions and changing environments.