Nova Scotia Community College

Purpose

The project will collect sensor data from drone overflights of sea ice fields for use in developing novel situational awareness and path planning approaches for Marine Autonomous Surface Ship (MASS) vessels navigating in ice. Drones equipped with visual-spectrum imaging, LiDAR, and/or other sensors will overfly and survey coastal areas of the Northumberland Strait and adjacent waters, for which the ice cover is representative of the conditions known to exist in the upper reaches of the Gulf shipping lanes and through the St. Lawrence Seaway. Data collected during the project will be used to develop data communication, analysis, and fusion techniques relevant to MASS navigation challenges in ice conditions. Datasets will also be made available to other researchers at partner organizations studying similar problems in a MASS ice-navigation and maneuvering context.