• The KIPS Transactions:PartB
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• v.10B no.4
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• pp.403-410
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• 2003

ANS (autonomous navigation system) is an expert system which builds navigation plans, understands the current environment, and controls a surface ship. The most ideal way to test ANS is available after it is installed into a real surface ship. however, it is impossible to implement into a real ship. since it costs too much to develop the hardware interfaces just for testing. The most appropriate way for testing is to develop a simulation system for a surface ship and apply it. A simulation system for a surface ship consists of two sub-systems : one is a ship movement simulation system to imitate the physical movement characteristics of the ship, and the other is an environmental objects simulation system to build up surroundings of the ship. In this paper, we design and develop a surface ship movement simulation system which imitates its physical movement characteristics by using a motion equation for surface ship.

• International Journal of Naval Architecture and Ocean Engineering
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.881-891
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• 2020

In recent years robotics has become an important resource in engineering. Adoption of Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) in activities related to ship inspections has obvious potential advantages, but also arises particular challenges, both from technical and legal viewpoints. The ROBINS project (ROBotics technology for INspection of Ships) is a collaborative project co-funded within the H2020 EU Research and Innovation programme call, aimed at filling the gap between current ship inspections approach and available robotic technology, both from technological and regulatory point of view. Main goal of the present work is to highlight how ship inspections are currently carried out by humans, how they could be improved using RAS, even if not completely autonomous for the time being, at least in selected operational scenarios and how the performances of RAS platforms can be tested to assess their effectiveness in carrying out surveys onboard. In such a framework, a testing facility aimed at assessing RAS' capabilities as well as providing suitable environment for their development has been built and it is still under development along with dedicated testing protocols, able to assess the equivalence between human and RAS inspection of ship and marine structures. The features of a testing facility where RAS can be tested and the testing protocols are presented, showing how technological and regulatory gaps are filled.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.47 no.1
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• pp.10-17
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• 2023

A series of studies on the development of autonomous surface ships have been promoted in domestic and foreign countries. One of the main technologies for the development of autonomous ships is path-following control, which is closely related to securing the safety of ships at sea. In this regard, the path-following performance of an autonomous ship should be first evaluated at the design stage. The main aim of this study was to develop a visual and quantitative evaluation method for the path-following control performance of an autonomous ship at the design stage. This evaluation technique was developed using a computational fluid dynamics (CFD)-based path-following control model together with a line-of-sight (LOS) guidance algorithm. CFD software was utilized to visualize waves around the ship, performing path-following control for visual evaluation. In addition, a quantitative evaluation was carried out using the difference between the desired and estimated yaw angles, as well as the distance difference between the planned and estimated trajectories. The results demonstrated that the ship experienced large deviations from the planned path near the waypoints while changing its course. It was also found that the fluid phenomena around the ship could be easily identified by visualizing the flow generated by the ship. It is expected that the evaluation method proposed in this study will contribute to the visual and quantitative evaluation of the path-following performance of autonomous ships at the design stage.

• Journal of the Korea Society of Computer and Information
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• v.28 no.10
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• pp.267-275
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• 2023

The digital transformation of the shipbuilding, shipping, and logistics sectors is predicted to lead to the introduction of autonomous ships and changes in the way ships are operated. The co-existence of various operation forms, such as autonomous operation and remote operation, with the existing operation methods is expected to lead to the transformation of the ship operation process and the emergence of new stakeholders. This paper studies the future ship operation process according to the change in ship operation method, predicts the change in the operating environment of future ships, and derives functional requirements by major tasks and stakeholders. The Delphi technique is applied to construct a ship operation scenario from the planning stage of voyage and cargo transport to the stage of arrival at the final destination port and discharge of cargo, and to predict future work changes by task and actor. Seafarers' activities are expected to be minimised by remote and autonomous operation, and experts in each field are expected to have responsibilities and tasks in different aspects of ship operation.

• Proceedings of KOSOMES biannual meeting
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• 2018.06a
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• pp.83-83
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• 2018

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.60 no.6
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• pp.473-481
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• 2023

In this study, a simulation system was developed to verify autonomous navigation algorithm in complex maritime traffic areas. In particular, real-world maritime traffic scenario was applied by considering near real-time maritime traffic information provided by Korean e-Navigation service. For this, a navigation simulation system of Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) was integrated with an e-Navigation equipment, called Electronic Chart System (ECS). To verify autonomous navigation algorithm in the simulation system, initial conditions including initial position of an own ship and a set of paths for the ship to follow are assigned by an operator. Then, considering real-world maritime traffic information obtained from the service, the simulation is implemented in which the ship repeatedly travels by avoiding surrounding obstacles (e.g., approaching ships). In this paper, the developed simulation system and its application on verification of the autonomous navigation algorithm in complex maritime traffic areas are introduced.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.46 no.2
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• pp.73-81
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• 2022

Currently, shipping by sea is becoming common because of the low price and the safety of goods. The ship is designed as a larger vessel to meet the need of this development. In the design stage, the investigation of hydrodynamic forces acting on the ship hull is very important in predicting the ship's maneuverability. Given that the ship docks at various ports for loading or discharging goods, the ship usually operates in various loading conditions, depending on the site condition and other various factors. Hence, it is necessary to investigate the effect of the loading condition on the hydrodynamic forces acting on the ship, to most accurately determine the maneuverability of the ship. In this study, an experiment of Korea Autonomous Surface Ship (KASS) was conducted at the towing tank of Changwon National University to measure the hydrodynamic forces acting on the KASS. The loading condition considered in this experiment is determined based on the draft, which was decreased by 5% for each loading condition. The smallest draft is 85% of the design draft. The static test as Oblique Towing Test (OTT), Circular Motion Test (CMT), Circular Motion Test with Drift (CMTD) is performed in the various loading conditions. First, the hydrodynamic forces in the Oblique Towing test (OTT) are compared with the result of other institutes. Second, the hydrodynamic forces in various drift angle, yaw rate and loading conditions are measured. Finally, the influence of the loading conditions on the hydrodynamic coefficient is discussed.

• Journal of Navigation and Port Research
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• v.47 no.6
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• pp.419-429
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• 2023

The pinnacle of rapidly changing and advancing maritime transportation technology is expected to be the Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship (MASS). The implementation of various services within the MASS is likely to be feasible through the ship-centric network known as the S2X communication system. However, existing communication systems face issues such as service traffic saturation and failure to meet demanded functionalities, necessitating the proactive introduction of additional communication technologies. In this study, the concept of S2X communication for the MASS was redefined, deriving required functionalities and ultimately selecting frequencies suitable for utilization. Candidate frequency groups suitable for the derived communication requirements were identified, and communication frequencies prioritized for the initial application were chosen through expert consensus. It is anticipated that through further research, including experimentation to validate these frequencies, they could be utilized in implementing services for autonomous ship navigation in the future.

• The Journal of Korea Robotics Society
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• v.17 no.4
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• pp.493-499
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• 2022

This paper presents the design for the kinematic structure of a system for an automatically moored 6000 ton autonomous ship in a port, and the process and results of optimal design for the link cross-sectional shape. We propose an automatic mooring system with a PPP type serial manipulator structure capable of linear motion in the XYZ axis. The mooring force applied by the mooring system was derived with dynamics simulation tool "ADAMS". The design goal is the minimization of the cross-sectional area of the link. Constrains include compressive stress and shear stress. The optimization problems were solved by using the sequential quadratic programing method implemented in the fmincon package. The shape of the cross section was assumed to be rectangle. Through future research, we plan to manufacture automatic mooring system for 6000ton class autonomous ship.

• Journal of the Society of Naval Architects of Korea
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.58-65
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• 2019

The stability, reliability and efficiency of a smart ship are important issues as the interest in an autonomous ship has recently been high. An automatic collision avoidance system is an essential function of an autonomous ship. This system detects the possibility of collision and automatically takes avoidance actions in consideration of economy and safety. In order to construct an automatic collision avoidance system using reinforcement learning, in this work, the sequential decision problem of ship collision is mathematically formulated through a Markov Decision Process (MDP). A reinforcement learning environment is constructed based on the ship maneuvering equations, and then the three key components (state, action, and reward) of MDP are defined. The state uses parameters of the relationship between own-ship and target-ship, the action is the vertical distance away from the target course, and the reward is defined as a function considering safety and economics. In order to solve the sequential decision problem, the Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) algorithm which can express continuous action space and search an optimal action policy is utilized. The collision avoidance system is then tested assuming the $90^{\circ}$intersection encounter situation and yields a satisfactory result.