The Maritime Research Institute Netherlands (Marin) and Royal IHC have completed dynamic positioning assessment tests for a new autonomous service operation vessel.
The tests on the T60-18 unit at Marin’s basins in Wageningen in the Netherlands, mark an important milestone in the autonomous SOV project, Royal IHC said.
IHC has developed technology that will allow one of its SOVs to navigate safely through an offshore wind farm and provide access to the turbines.
The operations will be executed by the vessel’s autonomous software while under the supervision of the duty officer at the wheelhouse, Royal IHC said.
“As such, the operator benefits from having an integrated solution that provides enhanced workability by incorporating the dynamic positioning system, the motion-compensated gangway and vessel movements,” it added.
The DP assessment was the final series of model tests for the vessel, and will provide input for the ship models in IHC’s autonomous SOV simulator.
The project will be completed in December 2020 when a simulator will be in operation that encompasses all functional systems of the autonomous vessel.
The simulator will then be used to demonstrate the feasibility of the system and benchmark efficiencies.
Marin team-lead autonomy and decision support Egbert Ypma said: “A next phase of the project will focus on the further development of the autonomous navigation and control functionality.
“This project provides an excellent case in demonstrating the full potential of an autonomous functionality in an operational setting.
“The challenges lie not only in the development of this functionality but also in the validation and testing of the whole system in order to prove its robustness against malfunctioning sensors and subsystems.
“In addition, a validated simulation environment – with the ability to interface with the DPS and other automation systems – provides the opportunity to safely test the vessel to its limits and beyond.
“The follow-up to this project will present many opportunities for IHC and Marin to jointly explore the challenges that lie ahead.”
IHC product manager Jeroen Hollebrands said: “We are pleased with the results of these tests at MARIN’s basins and the cooperation between both organisations was exceptional.
“We tested the vessel’s seakeeping behavior and position keeping in challenging environmental conditions similar to central North Sea with 3 to 3.5 metre significant wave height.
“These tests have given us great insight in the performance of the vessel and IHC DP system and gives us confidence to build SOVs capable of operating in these conditions.
“The autonomous operation is one of the unique features of our SOV, and has been in development for several years.
“The results will be implemented into our autonomous SOV simulator model, with which we want to show the vessel in action to industry stakeholders.
“Moreover, we can then take the next steps towards the development of an autonomously operating SOV as a prototype.”