Centre director Anastasios Lekkas presented the SFI at the International Maritime Organisation headquarters in London on 3 December, on the invitation of consortium partner NMA, during the 109th session of the Maritime Safety Committee (MSC 109).
In addition to explaining the structure and scope of the SFI, the presentation recounted the focus shift from ship automation to autonomy during the last years, and the added value for Norwegian maritime actors in establishing a research centre like SFI AutoShip as a means to address common challenges.
The Centre director also attended the discussions of the International Working Group on development of a code for Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (MASS).
SFI AutoShip researcher Melih Akdağ received the Best Student Presentation Award at the Joint 13th International Conference on Soft Computing and Intelligent Systems and 25th International Symposium on Advanced Intelligent Systems (SCIS&ISIS) which was arranged on 9-12 November in Himeji, Japan.
Melih defended his PhD at NTNU's Department of Engineering Cybernetics in September and has since taken up a position as an AI researcher for DNV. The award-winning presentation was titled "Prioritizing and Ranking Ships in Multi-encounter Scenarios for Autonomous Navigation". SFI AutoShip congratulates Melih on his wonderful achievement!
SFI Days 2024
More than 100 participants from our consortium attended our main annual event, the SFI AutoShip Days on 15-16 October, at Quality Hotel Prinsen.
Presentations reflected the wide range of research and innovation activities of the Centre partners, including the Skipsrevyen-awarded "Ship of the Year 2024" Reach Remote 1 by Reach Subsea and Kongsberg Maritime; new DNV class notations for autonomous and remotely operated ships; an overview of the IMO's MASS code by NMA; presentations of results by 4 of our PhDs and PD graduates; the integration of autonomy in offshore operations by Fugro; our internal group on COLREGS; the student competition Njord Challenge; a demo of remote operation and auto-crossing of NTNU's autonomous vessels, milliAmpere 1 & 2; hardware and software on milliAmpere 1; autonomous ships and logistics performance by SINTEF Ocean; a periodically unmanned bridge presentation by IFE; and self-introductions by our 6 newly employed researchers.
Bjørg Mathiesen Døving from Reach Subsea presenting.
The mobile operation centre at Ravnkloa during the SFI Days. Alexey Gusev remotely controlling milliAmpere 1.
milliAmpere 1 and milliAmpere 2 during the remote operation and autocrossing demonstration at Ravnkloa.Are Jørgensen from DNV presenting. Photos: Ingeborg Guldal/NTNU
Autumn researcher workshop
We welcomed 60 participants from both research and industry to our Autumn researcher workshop on 16 September. Fugro's Iurii Kapitaniuk provided an interesting presentation from an industry partner perspective, and we were updated on our Use Cases by Svein Peder Berge from SINTEF. Finally, we enjoyed a live demonstration of milliAmpere 1 being remotely controlled from the conference venue, by researchers from the adjacent Autoteaming project. The day was as usual finished with great discussions in parallel sessions, according to work packages.
Centre director Anastasios Lekkas welcomes participants to the Researcher workshop.Iurii Kapitaniuk from Fugro presenting.Autoteaming researcher Alexey Gusev remotely controlling milliAmpere 1. Photos: Ingeborg Guldal/NTNU
Spring researcher workshop
The spring researcher workshop was held on March 18, and included presentations on industry-related research challenges from industry partners DNV, Fugro and Kongsberg Maritime, as well as participation by many other consortium partners, with a record 60 people in attendence. Five newly employed PhDs also presented their projects. After lunch, parallel session discussions focused on the involvement of PhDs and postdocs with partner organisations, according to Work Packages.
PhD Peter Morris presenting.Grunde Løvoll and Koen van de Merwe from DNV presenting. Photos: Ingeborg Guldal/NTNU
Webinars
Webinars
Centre researchers regularly present their results in webinars, in collaboration with industry and public sector partners. The webinars are recorded and made available to the consortium.
Past topics:
Feasibility study of an unmanned cargo ship (SINTEF)
Bridging the gap between COLREGS and algorithms for collision avoidance (NTNU, UiO, DNV)
Automated docking for marine surface vessels (NTNU, Kongsberg Maritime, DNV)
Safety and reliability of machinery systems (NTNU, Torghatten)
Radar in maritime situational awareness - Beyond point measurement (NTNU, Kongsberg Maritime)
Systems-Theoretic Process Analysis (STPA) tutorial (physical seminar organised by NTNU)
Safe Optimal Control and Multi-Target Tracking Demonstrated with a Digital Twin (NTNU)
Risk assessment and supervisory risk control of autonomous marine systems (NTNU, Kongsberg Maritime and Fugro)
Navigator experiences of periodically unmanned bridge – an empirical study (IFE and SINTEF Ocean)
Webinar on COLREGS, March 2023.
Use case site visits
Use case site visits
Visit to Fugro in Aberdeen
Two Work Package 3 researchers visited Fugro's Remote Operation Centres (ROCs) in Aberdeen, Scotland, in August 2023. The researchers observed the ROCs for the unmanned surface vehicle (USV) Orca and the remote-operated vessel Blue Essence. A superintendent and global product manager of Fugro shared their insights into the transition from conventional vessel-based operations to ROC-based operations.
Postdoc Taufik Akbar Sitompul and PhD Felix-Marcel Petermann visiting Fugro in Aberdeen. Photo: Mark Bruce/Fugro
Visit to Fugro in the Netherlands
In February 2023, researchers and PhD students focusing on Use Case 4 Offshore support operations visited our partner Fugro in Nootdorp in the Netherlands. A guided tour around the Fugro TechCentre observing the technology development and prototyping was one of the highlights of they day. Fugro also provided a remote live tour of the Remote Operation Centre in Aberdeen. From this ROC, both ROVs and USVs are remotely operated.
Most importantly, plans were made for future collaboration on research activities, specifically around the PhD projects. Use case owner Equinor also participated in the workshop.
Site visit at Fugro in the Netherlands. Photo: Trond Johnsen/SINTEF
Visit to Reach Subsea and NMA in Haugesund
In February 2023, researchers and PhD students focusing on Use Case 4 Offshore support operations visited our partner Reach Subsea in Haugesund. Thorough introductions to ongoing offshore support operations and technology were given, followed by discussions around the use of unmanned surface vessels (USVs). Use case owner Equinor also participated in the workshop.
While in Haugesund, the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) facilitated a workshop focusing on the risk-assessment of USVs and autonomous ships in general. DNV also contributed to this workshop with their insight from a classification perspective. Risk assessment will be an important focus area for Use Case 4.
PhDs Simon Lexau, Susanna Dybwad Kristensen and Raffael Wallner with Reach Subsea's chartered vessel Havila Subsea in the background: Havila Subsea - Reach Subsea Photo: Trond Johnsen/SINTEFOutside the Norwegian Maritime Authority. Photo: Trond Johnsen/SINTEF
Visit to NCL Svelgen in Orkanger
Centre researchers visited NCL Svelgen at Trondheim Havn container terminal in Orkanger in September 2022. NCL crew gave a guided tour on the vessel and provided a lot of interesting information about operational experiences. The port personnel also guided around the terminal and answered questions about the port logistics. The information gathered will be important in the further research related to Use Case 2 - Short sea container shipping.
Photo: Trond Johnsen/SINTEF
Visit to the ferry between Levanger and Ytterøy
In March 2022 a team from SFI AutoShip visited the ferry crossing between Levanger and Ytterøy, invited by Torghatten. This is part of one of the Use Cases in SFI AutoShip and the purpose was for the PhDs and researchers to consider and learn about the possibiities for autonomy. They met with the shipping company and 3 captains who contributed with valuable knowledge and experience.
Photo: Trond Johnsen/SINTEF
Innovation workshops
Innovation workshops
SFI AutoShip arranges regular workshops led by innovation manager Kjell Olav Skjølsvik, to familiarise PhDs and postdocs with innovation theory, and engage researchers in discussions on technology transfer and research-based value creation. These gatherings have resulted in each researcher developing innovation leads, which have been categorised according to technology readiness level and presented to the consortium partners.
Innovation workshop in June 2024. Photo: Ingeborg Guldal/NTNUInnovation workshop in December 2023. Anders Aune from NTNU Technology Transfer presenting. Photo: Ingeborg Guldal/NTNUWorkshop on research-based innovation in collaboration with SFU Engage, March 2023. Photo: Kjell Olav Skjølsvik/NTNU
Selected previous events
Selected previous events
Njord - the Autonomous Ship Challenge
Njord is a unique International student competition, where students design systems to control autonomous ships and compete against other student teams. SFI AutoShip is one of the sponsors.
The competition is held annually in August by and for students, and the goal is to inspire innovation and smart solutions within maritime autonomy, as well as creating a platform for personal development and networking.