All posts by admin

Guest lecture on “The unattended Ship”

Before an enthousiast audience of students of the University of Applied Sciences of Rotterdam (department of human factors and ship automation), PK Marine presented her ideas on what is usually referred to as “Autonomous Ships”.

In essence, the message is “don’t be worried that you will get out of a job any time soon”. Rather, the developments in this field, better referred to as “Unattended ships” promises mariners to have better and more interesting equipment on board of their ships, making their job safer and more interesting. In addition, new jobs will appear at the shore so those that would like to spend more time with their family will be given a new and attractive alternative at the shore.

Lecture material can be found here.

 

VVW@Sea proposal accepted as MiT R&D cooperation project

It is becoming increasingly busy at sea with wind farms and farming at sea, among other things, and that has consequences for the safety of humans and animals. At the same time, with climate change, conditions at sea are becoming increasingly variable and dangerous, which is increasingly hampering operations. Ship owners and Dutch government departments such as the Directorate-General for Public Works and Water Management and the Dutch Coast Guard are therefore actively looking for ways to better recognise dangers, and that help the crew of a ship to operate safer, more efficient, and more energy-efficient (and therefore cheaper) at sea, with minimal effect on marine life, by means of concrete advice.

Project VVW@Sea (Dutch acronym for ‘For Safely Working at Sea’) aims to meet this need by combining innovative radar technology and advanced modeling algorithms to develop a modular advisory system that maps hazards in the environment (sea, currents, floating objects including oil pollution, marine mammals, etc.), and that gives advice on how best to deal with them given the desired operation and given safety considerations. It is a joint project of the following three SMEs:

  1. Coordinator Sens2Sea contributes her knowledge of radar techniques and AI to collect information about water, wave conditions and moving or non-moving objects under, on and above water.
  2. Participant PK Marine contributes its mathematical models of ship movements with associated knowledge, and knowledge of simulation, of the development of, and integration in, bridge systems, and of maritime user interfaces.
  3. Participant BraveheartMarine will make a test vessel available on which the developed systems will be tested, and will contribute its knowledge of specific activities at sea, and of the hazards that play an important role in those.

In addition, several other parties have expressed their willingness to make ships available for testing, without charging the associated costs of thousands of euros per day.

The intention of the project team is, that, at the end of the 2 year project (spring 2026), they will have jointly developed a first variant of an advisory system that enables work vessels with the same work profile as that of Participant Braveheart Marine to sail and work at sea more safely, and to continue working at sea longer in the event of deterioration of working conditions.

Subsequently, the team intends to set up a joint venture with all the rights to develop this variant into a market-ready product and then to bring it to market. In addition, this joint venture will have the support and rights to develop additional modules into market-ready products for other types of end-users.

PK Marine involved in a Post-doc course on model-based control algorithms

Characteristic for model-based control algorithms is their one on one relation with a mathematical model of the process to be controlled. This mathematical model can be used for three purposes

  • Its structure and coefficients can be transformed to a state-space control algorithm that, when taking into account operational information and information about how disturbances act on the process, performs close to the “best” control algorithme that can be designed for this specific process.
  • It can be realized in a simulation tool like Mathlab or X-cos, together with the candidate control algorithm, in order to validate the performance of that control algorithm
  • Together with the model-based control algorithm, it can be programmed to become part of a control system such that the (difficult) validation of a control algorithm in practice (i.e. tuning the gains of the control algorithm) changes to validation by means of a more simplified method: the validation of the process parameters applied in the mathematical model. Subsequently, the gains of the control algorithm (and the associated state-space estimator) are automatically from those validated model parameters.

PK Marine has used her extensive knowledge in this area of model-based control to help set-up lessons and practicums for the Post-Academic course “Instrumentation and Control Engineering” at HBO Drechtsteden. In addition, PK Marine provided one of the teachers for this course.

The practical aspect has been very important in this course. Almost 50% of the course was about applying the acquired knowledge or filled by the contribution of  companies involved in maritime control systems such as Pon-cat (Papendrecht) , de Waal (Werkendam) and RH Marine (Schiedam).

The picture gives an impression of the session at RH Marine given by ir. Ehab el Amam (shown at his back). This session in particular, about many facets of highly-advanced ship control illustrated with many examples from the field, was assessed by the students as very interesting.

PK Marine in Lloyd’s Register for short professional education (CRBKO)

Early 2019, PK Marine was requested by HBO Drechtsteden to participate in the professional follow-up course “Instrumentation & Control Engineer.

As PK Marine has a long history of participating in (Master & Bachelor) student projects and projects of High school  students, it regarded this request to teach young professionals an interesting challenge.

As part of the agreement, PK Marine was requested to register in the central register for short professional education (in  Dutch: Centraal Register Kort Beroepsonderwijs CRKBO). As PK Marine, because of her background, proved to meet all related requirements, this registration appeared no more than a formality. So as of October 1st 2019, PK Marine is allowed to use the CRKBO logo when conducting student courses on designing advanced (model-based) control algorithms from initial analyses to verification in practice.

 

 

 

Minor Mechatronics projects succesfully demonstrated in the basin at the RDM

One of the areas of interest of the Rotterdam University of Bachelor Engineering is that of Autonomous ships. On a regular base, groups of students or individual students are given assignments to conduct research on subjects important for this area. One of these subjects is the desire to have modular propulsion & steering units that can easily be installed on board very small autonomous ships (referred to as ‘Aquabots’) and that can also be easily adjusted to accommodate different types of aquabot designs.

The students Menno Bakker, Job Kemner, Ruben van Sierenberg de Boer and Pim Koolmees have taken on this challenge as “Minor Mechatronics” project and they presented their results installed on one of the aqua bots in the small basin of the Aqualab at the RDM premises in Rotterdam.

From their laptop they were able to address their design of two rotatable thrusters thereby steering the aquabot, equipped with their rotatable propulsion solutions, successfully through the basin.

Another group of students (Ivan Boele, Joey van Oosterhout, Djordy van Ringelesteijn and Wessel Pluim) took on the challenge to design an indoor positioning system to provide an accurate position of an aquabot sailing in the Aqualab basin. Such a system is essential for enabling experiments with autonomous aquabots in that basin. That group was at the last moment confronted with a technical problem when presenting their results. Nevertheless, despite the pressure of having their final presentation, they succeeded to overcome the problem and concluded with a successful presentation of a working indoor positioning system.

PK Marine congratulates both groups with their successful completion of the assignment and wishes them success in the continuation of their study.

Technasium assignment: An Automated Boat Trailer

The project “Automated Boat Trailer” initiated by PK Marine comprises a series of student assignments with as eventual goal the development of an automated trailers that simplify the launch and retrieval of small robotic vessels.

When Sander van den Bogert and Lars Hartman expressed their interest to continue with the work of Anouk de Vries and Tanya van Bergenhenegouwen with a focus on the automation part, they created for themselves a serious challenge. One of the conditions PK Marine poses to this type of assignment is that it ends with a demonstration. That condition almost proved too much for Sander and Lars. Nevertheless, they did succeed, albeit at the last moment and in a manner to be proud of.

Sander and Lars with their result

 

Early 2019, PK Marine was approached by Marieke Meijer and Henk Bezemer, teachers of Northgo-college in Noordwijk whether or not he could provide an interesting study project for a group of visiting German students of Graf Adolf Gymnasium in Tecklenburg. PK Marine proposed to address the problems faced by pedestrians and bicyclists in the port of Rotterdam. When traveling from South to North and back they are confronted with a river that has few crossings and when traveling from East to West and back they are confronted with large detours due to harbors and inaccessible industrial areas. The available means (bridges & tunnels, metro/train, bus, waterbus and water cab) are too wide apart for a quick travel, reason why many people prefer to use their car.
From an environmental point of view and from a congestion point of view, any initiative that shortens the time for pedestrians and bicyclists to reach their destination seems to be attractive.

One of the ideas PK Marine is assessing is to realize a transport concept that is very similar to that of elevators in a high building referred to as ‘the hitch-hiker ferry concept’:
Small ferries, that sail autonomously across and along the river and in some of the harbor areas, can be called by their users in a similar manner as the users of elevators in a building do.
Peter van der Klugt of PK Marine asked the students to analyze as many aspects of this potential solution as they could within their short visiting period. As a reference, they made a tour through Rotterdam harbor by Spydo were they had the opportunity to discuss with its captain the potential of small ferries sailing autonomously in the Rotterdam harbor area. After that, they used the waterbus to go to the RDM innovation dock where they were given a tour through the laboratories of the Rotterdam University of Bacheler Science with focus on the area where students conduct various maritime research projects.

Tuesday afternoon the assignment, Thursday the visit to Rotterdam and to the RDM and Friday morning the presentation of results: not much time to come with interesting results one may guess. Nevertheless, that guess would be wrong as these students came with a surprising number of small design details and ideas that will be important for the realization of the concept. PK Marine was very happy and the compliments of PK Marine and of their guiding teachers of Graf Adolf Gymnasium and Northgo college have been well earned.

Evelyn Futterknecht, Peter van der Klugt, Matthias Reineke and students of Graf Adolf Gymnasium from Tecklenburg Germany

The photo above shows the teacher/guides of Graf Adolf Gymnasium Evelyn Futterknecht (to the left) and Matthias Reineke (to the right), Peter van der Klugt of PK Marine at the back and the twelve participating students.

A fully-autonomous ship, by some referred to as ‘Robotic ship’ is characterized by its ability to sail safely from port to port without direct interference from some (remote) human operator. In order to do that, it requires a crucial ability of its human operated equivalent i.e. the ability to exchange information with entities in its environment such as other ships, harbor authorities, service agencies and back office to adjust its operation when necessary, to identify the intentions of other ships and to get support when it runs into authorization limits.

For his bachelor thesis at Rotterdam University of Applied Science (department Shipping & Transportation), Sebastian Cornet was asked to investigate what navigation tasks are essential for safe navigation and to make the first steps on identifying what type of information exchange is conducted to execute those tasks.

  • Some of that has to be done by speech/VHF, so a robotic ship requires the ability to conduct a conversion; speech recognition technology applied on smart phones and in cars can be done will provide a good starting point
  • Some of that can be done by digital information exchange e.g. by AIS
Sebastian analysed IMO and Solas rules and studies about autonomous sailing to formulate a list of 11 crucial navigation tasks that have to be conducted on board. Subsequently, he validated this list on board a sea ship (during an assignment as candidate officer) with aid of his colleague officers. Further aided by his University supervisor (Mister Weeke) and PK Marine (Doctor van der Klugt) he wrote a convincing graduation report that not only described why the selected tasks are relevant and that others can be as easily conducted at the shore by the back-office and by others, he also regarded the means to exchange the information: Peter and Sebastian before the poster that summarises the study results
  • Some of that has to be done by speech/VHF, so a robotic ship requires the ability to conduct a conversion; speech recognition technology applied on smart phones and in cars can be done will provide a good starting point.
  • Some of that can be done by digital information exchange e.g. by AIS.

Thereby, he provided an excellent beginning for the next step towards the Artificial Ship Navigator i.e. the phrases that are used to exchange the information that is essential for navigation tasks.

See for more information his Bacheler thesis (190131 Bacheler thesis Sebastiaan Cornet Autonoom) and his summarizing poster (190308 SebCor – Poster).

 

Pedestrians and bicyclists experience serious obstacles when travelling to and through the harbor areas of Rotterdam.
When moving from East to West and back, they also have to make substantial detours in order to cross the many harbors with their usually inaccessible industrial areas.

Imagine a transportation system comprising dozens, may be hundreds, of electric, fully-autonomous, ferries that operate in the same manner as  the elevators in an extremely high and large building; the main difference is that, rather than from floor to floor, they move autonomously from stop to stop along and across the various waters of Rotterdam (using technology like that of autonomous cars). At each stop, people may press a button that they want to go left or right and, on the ferry, they press the stop where they want to go to. This is the Autonomous Hitch-hikers Ferry Concept or AH-F.

Despite this simple description, the realization is rather complex. A full solution requires amongst others

  • small (<12 persons) battery driven ferries that are easy accessible for pedestrians, bicyclists, elderly, children etc., each ferry has to be unsinkable with protective means against falling into the water
  • small AH-F-stops at quays with protective means against falling into the water, with re-charge facilities for a AH-Ferry, with payment functionalities and with gate facilities to limit the number of persons on a AH-Ferry
  • small facilities to interact with traffic control, to call for support if people on board have serious problems and to get support in case of technical problems
  • small facilities on board, at each AH-F stop and at Smart phones that inform the users when/where a AH-Ferry will arrive and how much space is on board

PK Marine has assigned an enthusiast group of 5 PI-students of the Rotterdam University of Applied Science with the task to investigate whether or not this concept is attractive to cross to reduce the biking distance between Schiedam, Rotterdam and the RDM-campus area and thus to lighten the traffic pressure on the few river crossings in that area. Their supervisor is Pim Warffemius.


Success Ville, Helena, Shaq, Siemen and Jesse with your PI assignment.