Enhancing maritime safety: developing an accessible real-time semantic wave imaging analyser for seakeeping

我们提出的研究旨在开发一种海浪成像分析仪来预测波-船-有效载荷-船员相互作用。这是目前缺少的快速船舶最佳耐波性的先决条件。适航性是海上安全面临的最大挑战之一，涉及控制船舶在波浪中的运动及其对人、系统和任务能力的影响。在欧洲海事安全局过去十年进行的1212项调查中，船舶操作规范(48%)和人为因素(17%)一直是主要的安全建议，这两个因素都是耐波性的关键。在做出任何控制决定之前，减轻对耐波性的不利影响需要对船舶周围逼近的海浪进行准确和实时的模拟。预测的波浪载荷对于任何精确的血管运动估计都是必不可少的，但它是不存在的。为了得到这样的模型，需要实时演变的3D海浪几何--动态的4D场景。然而，现有的传感和建模方法所需的计算时间对于任何船舶操作的决策窗口来说都太长了。目前，这一过程需要数十秒以上的时间才能在近距离预测和反应。这导致了我们提出要解决的三个具体挑战：1)开发快速船舶的实时立体波成像系统，以创建成像数据库，以重建准确的4D波场景；2)通过比较和适应不同的深度学习方法，减少提取波动力学特征的推理时间，例如，波的传播速度、方向、幅度；3)从重建的4D波预测船舶、有效载荷和船员的动态载荷。由于气候变化，风暴预计将变得更加常见和严重。包括渔业、海洋科学、国防、近海能源以及搜救服务在内的海运业将需要适应。对于所有进行载人或无人惊涛骇浪运输的船只来说，减震策略是必不可少的。在波涛汹涌的海面上，“海浪砰击”会引发高加速度事件，使乘员暴露在极端强度的机械冲击和全身振动中，对人类健康造成严重的慢性和急性后果。英国的法规基于2005年振动控制工作法规和2007年商船和渔船法规，对冲击和振动暴露有每日限制。类似的立法适用于整个欧洲和其他国家。快速船只营运者在遵守这些限制的同时，执行必要的活动和职责并不总是可行的。在许多情况下，机组人员的冲击和振动暴露是操作能力的限制因素，为机组人员提供减震座椅是可行的。然而，座椅或驾驶室保护的是船员，而不是船体、船体安装设备或有效载荷。如果舵手继续驾驶到同样的不适程度，船只上的负荷将增加，有可能造成直接和长期的损害。这是目前整个行业关注的一个领域。经验丰富的舵手可以通过不断调整舵面和油门来保持高速，同时减轻冲击严重程度。这项技能需要了解许多因素：迎面而来的海浪的特征以及船只和船员可能做出的反应。开发一种能够读取迎面而来的动态海浪、感知船只运动及其对船员和货物的影响的智能成像系统将对航海和海上安全至关重要。我们以工业为导向的研究将通过广泛的船上立体成像实验、最先进的数字建模和开发新的人工智能框架来应对这一挑战。这些成果将改变商船、渔业、国防、近海能源资产和救援服务的关键运营安全。

Our proposed research aims to develop an ocean wave imaging analyser to predict wave- vessel-payload-crew interaction. This is a currently missing prerequisite for optimal seakeeping of fast vessels. Seakeeping, concerning the control of vessel motion when subjected to waves and the resulting effects on humans, systems, and mission capacity, remains one of the biggest challenges in maritime safety. Vessel operational practices (48%) and human factors (17%), both key to seakeeping, have been the main safety recommendations amongst 1212 investigations, conducted by the European Maritime Safety Agency in the past decade.Before making any control decisions, mitigating detrimental effects on seakeeping requires accurate and real-time modelling of the approaching waves in the perimeter of the vessel. The predicted wave loading is essential for any precise estimation of vessel motion, but it is absent. To derive such a model, 3D wave geometry evolving in real time - a dynamic 4D scene - is required. However, the computational time required for existing sensing and modelling approaches are too long for the decision windows of any vessel operations. This process presently takes more than tens of seconds in order to anticipate and react at close proximity. This leads to three specific challenges we propose to tackle.1) Develop a real-time stereo wave imaging system for fast vessels to create an imaging database in order to reconstruct accurate 4D wave scenes.2) Reduce inference time of extracting wave dynamic features, e.g. wave propagation speed, direction, magnitude by comparing and adapting different deep learning methods.3) Predict dynamic loading on the vessel, payload and crew from reconstructed 4D wave.Storms are expected to become more common and severe due to climate change. The maritime industries, including fishing, marine science, defence, offshore energy, and search and rescue services, will need to adapt. A shock mitigation strategy is essential for all crafts that undertake rough water transits manned or unmanned. In heavy seas, 'wave slams' induce high-acceleration events exposing occupants to mechanical shocks and whole-body vibration of extreme magnitudes with severe chronic and acute consequences on human health. The UK regulation based on the Control of Vibration Work Regulations 2005 and the Merchant Shipping and Fishing Vessel Regulations 2007, with daily limits for shock and vibration exposure. Similar legislation applies throughout Europe and other countries. It is not always practicable for fast vessel operators to carry out necessary activities and duties while complying with these limits. In many situations, crew shock and vibration exposures are the limiting factor of the operational capability.It is practical to provide crew with shock mitigating seating. Seats or cabs, however, protect the crew, but not the hull, hull-mounted equipment or payload. If the coxswain continues to drive to the same discomfort level, the loading on the vessel will be increased with the potential of immediate and long-term damages. This is a current area of concern in the whole industry. An experienced coxswain can maintain a high speed while mitigating the impact severity via constant adjustment of the helm and throttle. This skillset requires understanding of many factors: the characteristics of the oncoming wave and the likely response of the vessel and crew.The development of an 'intelligent' imaging system capable of reading the dynamic oncoming sea, sensing craft motion, and its effects on crew and cargo will be essential to the seakeeping and maritime safety.Our industrial-driven research will address this challenge through extensive onboard stereo imaging experimentation, state-of-the-art numerical modelling and development of new artificial intelligence framework. The outcomes will transform critical operational safety of merchant shipping, fishing, defence, offshore energy assets, rescue services.