Field demonstration of advanced autonomous navigation technique for a fully unmanned surface vehicle in complex coastal traffic areas

This study introduces an advanced autonomous navigation algorithm for unmanned surface vehicle (USV) operations in complex coastal traffic areas. To facilitate the undertaking of tests for innovative technologies, the Korean government has designated regulation‐free special zones, thereby enabling f...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of field robotics 2023-12, Vol.40 (8), p.1887-1905
Main Authors: Han, Jungwook, Park, Hansol, Park, Kyurin, Kim, Sun‐Young, Lee, Jae Yong, Pyo, Chunseon
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Algorithms
Aquaculture
Autonomous navigation
Autonomy
Berthing
Collision avoidance
Emergency response
Field study
Field tests
Fish
Marine transportation
Safety
Situational awareness
Surface vehicles
Transportation services
Unmanned vehicles
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Summary:This study introduces an advanced autonomous navigation algorithm for unmanned surface vehicle (USV) operations in complex coastal traffic areas. To facilitate the undertaking of tests for innovative technologies, the Korean government has designated regulation‐free special zones, thereby enabling field tests for USV demonstrations without an onboard safety person on real manned‐ship navigation routes. To enable real‐world USV operation without onboard safety person, an existing autonomous navigation algorithm is extended to achieve sufficiently reliable and robust USV operation. Accordingly, berthing and unberthing algorithms are newly developed for unmanned operation, and enhanced situational awareness algorithms are applied to detect all types of obstacles, including small‐sized floating objects spread over a wide range, such as a fish farm. In particular, the Korean intelligent maritime transportation service, called e‐Navigation, is incorporated into the autonomous navigation algorithms to overcome the limitations of vehicle autonomy based on onboard sensors. To demonstrate the capability of fully unmanned operation in real marine traffic scenarios, long‐distance navigation (54 km on a single voyage) was conducted by running several missions, including navigation in complex fish farm areas, maritime surveys, collision avoidance, navigation on real traffic routes, and emergency response. The extended navigation algorithms and results of the field tests are presented and discussed in this paper.
ISSN:1556-4959
1556-4967
DOI:10.1002/rob.22225