Computer-Assisted Collision Avoidance Using ARPA and ECDIS

摘要

In the project entitled "Computer-Assisted Collision Avoidance", which was funded by the German Ministry of Education, Research and Technology and was executed in cooperation with the industrial partner STN ATLAS Elektronik, the intention was to combine the tasks of track planning, track control and collision avoidance. The aim was to develop a system which would support the officer of the watch in the handling of complex traffic situations by suggesting collision-avoidance tracks. The main points of this project were in the following areas: Determination and display of danger areas The positions of possible collisions with other ships, and areas to be avoided on the basis of defined closest points of approach, are computed and displayed with geometrical exactness. The target ships are fed into the system via a standardized interface. Set of rules for the handling of multi-ship encounters The software for computer-assisted collision avoidance contains a set of rules for the creation of collision avoidance tracks, taking account of the existing traffic situation. This set of rules takes into account the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREG) and nautical practice. In the process of generating a track suggestion, all other ships detected in the sea area concerned are included in the computation. Integration of ECDIS One of the main aims of the project was to combine the information and functionalities of ARPA and ECDIS. By the incorporation of chart data, the system is able to compute track suggestions, taking account of the sea area in which the ships are sailing. In this process, the own ship's safety requirements are included. Accordingly, the track thus determined can actually be sailed. By the overlaid display of radar picture and ECDIS, the situation involving encounters with other vessels can at all times be assessed within the overall context. Economically designed man-machine interface One important subtask in the project was the development of a man-machine interface that would make the system as simple as possible to operate. Here, it had to be ensured that, by suitable design of the overlaid display of chart and radar picture, the user would not be overwhelmed by a flood of information.%Die Intention des vom Ministerium für Bildung und Forschung gefördeten Projektes, das in Zusammenarbeit mit STN Atlas Elektronik ausgeführt wurde, war, die Probleme von Routenplanung, Routenkontrolle und Kollisionsverhütung zu kombinieren. Ziel war es, ein System zu entwickeln, das dem Wachoffizier bei der Bewältigung komplexer Verkehrssituationen durch Empfehlung von kollisionsverhütenden Kursen unterstützt. Die Schwerpunkte des Projektes liegen auf folgenden Gebieten: Bestimmung und Darstellung von Gefahrengebieten Die Positionen möglicher Kollisionen mit anderen Schiffen werden auf der Basis festgelegter Mindestabstände und zu meidender Gebiete berechnet und mit geometrischer Genauigkeit dargestellt. Die Zielschiffe werden über ein standardisiertes Interface eingespielt.