Overview
A Volumetric Navigation System (VNS) started with great interest in new traffic navigation solutions considering certain scenarios in which all the vehicles share information in order to be part of a collaborative navigation network. In those scenarios, 3D volume dimensions are used to define the position of an associated volumetric envelope in time. In the maritime navigation the volume of the ship is the envelope of the ship after a given time. Horizontal dimensions of this ship's envelope will consider his current speed and also from his extreme stopping and manoeuvring capabilities from the given speed and load, and correction for the drift due to local measured wind and mapped currents. The vertical dimension in navigation at sea is the water distance below the keel at fore and the aft of the ship and the sea bottom as given by carthography and tide. The display may overlap the Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS) screen.
VNS is a human error avoiding tool for collision avoidance, manouevring and navigation in low separation traffic lines and channels, crossings, port traffic, congested shallow waters. The system key points are:
- every vessel may be represented by a safety volume envelope which geometry will depend on its real shape, navigation and dynamical parameters and the surrounding environment;
- the position and course and heading of a vessel may be accurately calculated in real time from its position, speed and drift by GPS and GNSS technologies. Combining position, course, drift and volume, each vessel may be considered as a geo-referenced geometrical volume;
- in an scenario with different ship sizes and tonnage and speeds each vessel or boat generates his own volume that is transmitted to the other vessels in the area. The shore, docks river or channel sides and shallow water obstacles generate a warning when the volume of the vessel approaches at different levels of risk.
The overall objective of ARIADNA project is to optimise the use of maritime and river infrastructures in order to manage increased traffic density and, at the same time, improve safety at congested maritime and inland areas with the support of the last ICT navigation aids. In the framework of the project, specific objectives are also defined:
- demonstrate and support feasibility to reduce the traffic separation by at least 20% on high density traffic regulated areas as based on a realistic risk assessment considering HNS carried or not, and oceanographic and weather conditions;
- demonstrate and support feasibility to increase infrastructures use and passage density capability by 20% on regulated areas based on a realistic risk assessment on infrastructure constraints and navigation conditions;
- provide a navigation support tool to reduce human error and hence increasing safety in an increasing navigation density scenario and reducing collision, grounding and wake effect accidents by 20%;
- reduce waiting time and manoeuvring in ports, inland waterways and infrastructures accesses by 10% (with inherent reduction of energy and production of CO2).
ARIADNA's concept combines navigation and position (volume) information with time for own and other surrounding ships. Information on infrastructures, surface, draft allowances, currents, wind, squat effects (and so on) are taken into account, in order to optimise the use of infrastructures and guide all ships involved in a safe way, supporting maneuvring and collision and grounding avoidance.
Funding
Results
The ARIADNA project is to design a new concept and build a new series of navigation support systems which facilitate:
- optimisation of the use of maritime and inland infrastructures;
- safe navigation in dense traffic situations in ports, rivers, channels, lock and port access areas;
- improvement of traffic separation schemes;
- improved risk control, including grounding;
- efficient and environmentally-friendly operations.
Innovation aspects
ARIADNA based products can be useful to avoid human error in navigation. The new system provides warning and manoeuvring support for collision avoidance, as well as risk and warning assessment to vessel and navigation control systems in different maritime scenarios such as channels, port access areas, narrow inland waterways and congested areas.
ARIADNA implements the Volumetric Navigation System (VNS) for maritime and inland navigation according to the following preconditions:
- the system combines data on navigation, position and vessel characteristics with time information about relative positions in regard to vessels and infrastructures that are located in its surroundings;
- through the usage of VNS, all vessels share information in order to be part of a collaborative navigation network.
Strategy targets
Innovation for the future: technology and behaviour