Small Unmanned Surface Vessels—A Review and Critical Analysis of Relations to Safety and Safety Assurance of Larger Autonomous Ships

Abstract

Autonomous ships represent an emerging paradigm within the maritime sector, poised to bring multiple advantages. Although numerous prototypes have been developed, the deployment of large autonomous ships has predominantly remained confined to domestic waters or specialized military applications. The extensive adoption of autonomous ships is hampered by several challenges, primarily centered around safety. However, the direct assessment of autonomous technologies on large-scale vessels can be very costly. Small-scale autonomy testing may provide a cheaper option. This study reviews the current small autonomous ship models used by maritime researchers and industry practitioners. It aims to evaluate how these autonomous models currently augment and can augment safety assurances on larger autonomous ships. The review identifies relevant very small Unmanned Surface Vessels (USVs), the main research groups behind them and their applications. Then, the current use of USVs for safety and safety assurance is analyzed. Finally, the paper suggests innovative strategies and research directions for using USVs for the safety assurance of larger autonomous ships.

Lake Environmental Data Harvester (LED) for Alpine Lake Monitoring with Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASVs)

“…Similarly, underwater vehicles are unsuitable for shallow remote lake shores. Recent surveys [30][31][32] have showcased a proliferation of research efforts dedicated to Autonomous Surface Vehicles (ASVs), resulting in the development of numerous commercial products of small dimensions [33]. However, conducting surveys in remote lakes requires comprehensive solutions that address challenges such as streamlined logistics and portability along high mountain trails, suitable propulsion for shallow shores, and the ability to integrate a plethora of lightweight sensors and tools for high-quality surveys.…”

GBM-ILM: Grey-Box Modeling Based on Incremental Learning and Mechanism for Unmanned Surface Vehicles

“…Unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) have garnered considerable attention over the past few decades [1,2]. Thanks to their advantages of inherent security, autonomy, and programmability, they have been applied in different types of scenarios, such as transportation [3], environmental monitoring [4,5], marine resource exploration [6,7], disaster rescuing [8], and marine reconnaissance [9,10].…”