Analysis of the development trend of smart ships - Maritime patrol boats

one. Smart Ship Overview

1. Reasons for developing smart ships

In recent years, due to the rise of the concept of intelligent ships and the increasing development of intelligent ship technology, ship intelligence has become the general trend of global shipping. In order to reduce the difficulty of ship control and management through ship intelligence, reduce human error, improve the safety of equipment and ship operation, optimize ship navigation, control fuel consumption, reduce costs, and improve revenue, the current research on intelligent ships has been carried out on a global scale.

2. What is a smart ship

On December 1, 2015, the "Smart Ship Specification" prepared by the China Classification Society (CCS) was officially released, which defined: "Smart ship refers to the use of sensors, communication, Internet and other technical means, automatic perception of information and data, and through automatic control technology and big data processing and analysis technology to achieve intelligent operation." Based on "big data", intelligent ships use advanced information technology such as real-time data transmission and aggregation, large capacity computing, digital modeling, remote control, etc., to realize intelligent ship perception, judgment analysis, decision-making and control, so as to better ensure the navigation safety and operational efficiency of ships. Intelligent ships are also the clear focus of the "Made in China 2025". It represents the future development direction of ships and is related to the transformation and upgrading of the shipping industry. 

3. Intelligent ship function module

The "Smart Ship Code" issued by the China Classification Society divides smart ships into six functional modules: intelligent navigation, intelligent hull, intelligent engine room, intelligent energy efficiency management, intelligent cargo management and intelligent integration platform.

4. Key technologies in smart ships

(1) Information perception technology

Ship information perception refers to a technical means that the ship can obtain various information of the ship itself and the surrounding environment based on various sensing equipment, sensor network and information processing equipment, so that the ship can sail more safely and reliably.

(2) Communication and navigation technology

Communication technology is used to realize the information exchange between the systems and equipment on the ship, between the ship and the shore station, between the ship and the beacon. Commonly used communication methods mainly include: VHF (very high frequency), maritime private network, maritime satellite, mobile communication network (mobile phone network) and so on. Navigation technology is used to guide a ship's movement from one point to another on a designated route, and usually includes processes such as positioning, destination selection, path calculation, and path guidance. Navigation technologies commonly used in ships include early radio navigation and now widely used satellite navigation. Beidou navigation satellite system provides a new development opportunity for China's ship navigation field.

(3) Energy efficiency control technology

In 2007, the world's maritime vessels emitted 1.04 billion tons of CO2, of which about 870 million tons were emitted by international shipping, accounting for 3.3% and 2.7% of the global total CO2 emissions in that year, respectively. In order to improve the energy efficiency of ships and reduce the greenhouse gas emissions of ships (energy conservation and emission reduction), the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has proposed EEDI (Energy Efficiency Index of new shipbuilding design) and EEOI (Energy Efficiency Index of Ship Operation). The development of smart ships should conform to the development trend of "green ships", analyze the internal relationship between navigable environment, loading capacity, draft, main engine power (speed) and ship operation energy efficiency index EEOI, and optimize the control of ship speed, loading capacity, draft, route, etc., on the premise of ensuring ship safety and operation efficiency. To minimize the EEOI index.

(4) Route planning technology

Route planning refers to the intelligent and real-time selection of the ship's position and route in the waterway according to the traffic flow control information of the navigable waters, the ship density in the forward waterway, the company's shipping schedule information, the channel current distribution information, and the navigation difficulty information of the waterway, so as to optimize the route and achieve the purpose of safety, efficiency, and green environmental protection. At present, the common route planning methods include linear programming method, mixed integer programming model, genetic algorithm, simulated annealing, particle swarm optimization algorithm and other intelligent algorithms

(5) Condition monitoring and fault diagnosis technology

Condition monitoring technology is a technology to predict the operating state of equipment by monitoring the development trend of equipment vibration. By understanding the health status of equipment, it can judge whether the equipment is in a stable state or is deteriorating. In the future, ship fault diagnosis can be based on big data, and multi-scale analysis method can be used to construct equipment condition monitoring system. Fault diagnosis technology is to master the operation status of the ship machinery and equipment during operation or when the equipment is basically not dismantled, analyze and process the useful information obtained by testing the diagnosed object, determine whether the state of the diagnosed object is abnormal or faulty, determine the parts or parts where the deterioration occurs, and determine the cause of the fault. And predict the development trend of state deterioration.

(6) distress early warning and rescue technology

Water traffic accidents often occur, especially collisions and stranding accidents, which often cause serious economic losses and casualties. Whether at sea or inland waters, ship collision is the most common type of water traffic accidents, accounting for a large proportion of all water traffic accidents. Ship distress warning and search and rescue technology can effectively reduce the incidence of accidents and reduce the loss of accidents.

(7) Autonomous navigation technology

As defined in the Code for Intelligent Ships, intelligent navigation refers to the use of computer technology and control technology to analyze and process the perceived and obtained information, and to design and optimize the ship's route and speed. When feasible, with the help of shore-based support centers, ships can automatically avoid collisions in open waters, narrow waterways, and complex environmental conditions to achieve autonomous navigation

5. Achievements and difficulties of current technological development

Although GPS, AIS, electronic chart, VHF and other radio equipment and navigation equipment are widely used in modern ships, at the same time, based on various automation equipment integrated bridge system, integrated control system and engine room monitoring and alarm system and other automation systems have been widely used, and the technology is mature, but, There are still many gaps between the above requirements for intelligent ships. Whether it is still technically difficult ship-shore large-capacity communication technology, big data analysis technology, intelligent decision-making technology, or the integration and transformation of existing data, or the relevant standards that must be planned and sorted out for long-term consideration, it is a difficult task in front of shipbuilders.

It is suggested to combine the planning of E-navigation and E-inland river, accelerate the research of key technologies based on the existing technology and infrastructure, and expand the intelligent function of the existing equipment.

6. Advanced international achievements at present

In 2012, the "MUNIN" project (Ocean Unmanned Navigation based on intelligent network) [28], jointly conducted by eight research institutions including Fraunhofer CML in Germany, MARINTEK in Norway and Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, was the first to carry out research on large unmanned ships with unmanned bulk carriers as the object.

DNV conducts continuous research in the areas of hull structure monitoring, ship performance management, hull integration management, etc., builds digital hull models and develops corresponding tools. It can provide system monitoring and reporting, high-quality and comprehensive visual information, full life cycle information, clear communication through 3D structural models and other technical services for shipping companies around the world.

As one of the world's largest suppliers of Ship equipment, Britain's Rolls-Royce company has proposed Autonomous Ship, Robotic Ship, Unmanned Ship in recent years. Concepts such as ShipIntelligence. In 2013, Rolls-Royce launched research into a robotic cargo ship that could operate entirely from a holographic control room and sail anywhere in the world. Rolls-Royce believes that the next step in the development of smart ships should be to focus on remote control and autonomous driving. The company began developing a shore-based remote control system called the Future Operator Experience Concept in 2014. In March 2016, the company formed a partnership with Finland's National Technical Research Center (VTT), Aalto University and the University of Tampere's Human-Machine Interaction Research Center to launch a molding product by 2020. Through its technical collaboration with VTT, Rolls-Royce is able to effectively evaluate the design of remotely piloted automated vessels. 

7. Summary

In general, some technology theories related to smart ships are relatively mature (environmental perception technology, communication navigation technology, condition monitoring and fault diagnosis technology, etc.) and have been applied in practice, but some technical theories lack verification in real environments (energy efficiency control technology, route planning technology, safety early warning technology, autonomous navigation technology, etc.). Smart ships are still in the stage of rapid development and are not yet fully mature. With the development of ship technology, information technology, and the intelligent application of "big data", the acceleration of intelligent ships is being promoted. The development of ship intelligence will be an important factor to determine the development direction of the future ship industry. In addition to key technologies such as information perception, communication and navigation, and energy efficiency management, automatic parking, offshore, automatic maintenance, automatic cleaning, automatic replacement of equipment parts, and self-protection will also tend to be intelligent development; With the continuous development of ship intelligence related technologies, it can eventually realize the gradual transformation from intelligent system equipment to intelligent ships that can think, and promote safe and efficient navigation of ships. And bring new development opportunities for China's shipping.