The Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, Aalto University and maritime solution providers Fleetrange and Tallink Grupp are to join forces in order to bring the world one step closer to autonomous shipping.
The project is primarily focused around creating the required sensors to make autonomous shipping a reality.
Dr. Sarang Thombre, Research Manager at the Finnish Geospatial Research Institute, said: “A single sensor is never sufficient for providing complete safety-critical information to the crew.
“They always refer to multiple devices providing overlapping information so that defects in any one device can be easily identified and excluded. An autonomous navigation system should work on a similar principle.
“When such information is combined with established vessel navigation rules and regulations, it can potentially enable the vessel to navigate with minimal human guidance even in dense traffic conditions of the Baltic Sea.”
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Dr. Simo Särkkä, Professor of Aalto University, added: “The recent advances in artificial intelligence and machine learning allow for new ways to learn to identify and predict the movement of vessels, with a better accuracy that has been possible before.”
Funded by the European Space Agency (ESA), the goal of the joint-venture is to develop techniques for safe navigation using a combination of different sensors, machine learning tools and artificial intelligence (AI).
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