The Context Importance in the Problem of Cooperative Maneuvering of Unmanned Ships

Abstract

The problem of collision avoidance of a group of ships offshore is investigated in the paper. To solve this problem it is necessary to ensure the cooperative maneuvering of several vessels from the group. The case of unmanned (autonomous) ships, when each vessel is operated automatically, is considered in the paper. The main attention is paid to the problem of equally understanding of the current navigation situation conditions by the various agents, jointly solving the problem of cooperative maneuvering in a given water area. To solve the problem of cooperative maneuvering, all agents operating unmanned ships must equally interpret the current navigational situation. Factors defining the current navigation situation are divided into two groups: the main factors necessary to solve the problem of collision avoidance under ideal conditions and additional factors that must be additionally taken into account when solving the problem of collision avoidance in the real navigation environment. Failure to take into account the additional factors can lead to inadequate decisions on the vessel management. The concept of context is introduced as a set of interpretations of the additional factors values. The importance of taking these factors into account when solving the problem of collision avoidance is shown. A list of factors, as well as an example of these factors interpretation for inclusion in the context, is given. Using the same context by all agents will allow them to equally interpret the current navigational situation in the navigation area and jointly solve the problem of cooperative maneuvering. The main properties of the context, such as universality and compactness, are defined. In the protocol of agents interaction, it is necessary to provide the special means for exchange and matching of the contexts between the agents operating unmanned ships.

Monitoring of the process of safe divergence on the part of an unmanned vessel

“…In case of a meeting of two unmanned vessels, the agents who manage these vessels should be able to contact each other to develop a common understanding of the current situation of rapprochement, an unambiguous assessment of the degree of its danger and to develop an agreed solution for the divergence. For this purpose, it is important to implement the use of the context of the situation proposed in work [12] in the automatic divergence systems on these vessels, as well as to implement the protocol of information exchange between agents described in work [13].…”