An autonomous ship model has been successfully tested in Aker Arctic's ice model test laboratory in Helsinki, Finland.
In the demonstration test the ship model was able to detect obstacles in the ice tank utilising onboard sensors, manoeuvre around them without operator input and moor itself automatically to a target pier. The test was carried out in ice free waters.
The wireless model used in the test is equipped with battery powered propulsion units, data transfer to a shore facility and an autonomous navigation system that routes the vessel around obstacles detected by the onboard sensors.
The various components are connected using distributed intelligent vessel components, a specially developed network framework that provides a modern protocol for connecting devices and transferring necessary data between them.