Future shore control centre for unmanned ships

A six-minute film shows a small crew of seven to 14 people who monitor and control the operation of a fleet of vessels across the world. The crew uses interactive smart screens, voice recognition systems, holograms and surveillance drones to monitor what is happening both on board and around the ship.
Iiro Lindborg, general manager of remote and autonomous operations in Rolls-Royce's Ship Intelligence division, said: “We’re living in an ever-changing world where unmanned and remote-controlled transportation systems will become a common feature of human life. They offer unprecedented flexibility and operational efficiency. Our research aims to understand the human factors involved in monitoring and operating ships remotely. It identifies ways crews ashore can use tools to get a realistic feel for what is happening at sea.”
The film marks the final stage of research that will inform the design and construction of a project demonstrator before the end of this decade, Rolls-Royce said. An effective remote operations centre is essential to the company’s plans to develop autonomous and remote-controlled vessels.
The research was undertaken by the VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland Ltd and University of Tampere (Finland) research centre TAUCHI (Tampere Unit for Computer-Human Interaction) in collaboration with Rolls-Royce. It explored the lessons learned from other industries where remote operation is commonplace, such as aviation, energy, defence, and space exploration. It uses the innovative InnoLeap approach, a VTT- and Rolls-Royce-developed initiative for concept design and presenting academic studies in a graphic format. The InnoLeap approach is based on trend and user studies, co-innovation, scenario stories and visualisations.
Eija Kaasinen, principal scientist at VTT, said: “The autonomous ship does not mean removing human beings entirely from the picture, as is sometimes stated. Unmanned ships need to be monitored and controlled, and this will require entirely new kinds of work roles, tasks, tools and environments. The future shore control centre concept has been designed by emphasising the user experience of the human operators. By focusing on the operators’ point of view, it is possible to introduce meaningful, pleasurable and engaging new roles for the ships’ shore control centre professionals.”
Rolls-Royce said new digital opportunities would shape the world of work in various industries and that VTT’s research helped create the conditions needed for digitalisation to promote sustainable development, employment and well-being in society.
Mikael Wahlström, senior scientist at VTT, remarked: “We need to understand current work by field studies. This allows the creation of innovations that reflect the positive aspects of existing job practices, which are not always obvious. If, for example, a mechanic can assess the engine status by hearing the engine noise, it should be beneficial to be able to do the same at a remote control centre.”
Remote and autonomous ships are one of three elements of Rolls-Royce's Ship Intelligence strategy: a portfolio of innovative products and services – comprising health management solutions, optimisation and decision support, and remote and autonomous operations – that the company said would enable customers to transform their operations by harnessing the power of "big data".
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