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AI Case Study

Rolls Royce demonstrates fully autonomous ship travelling between Parainen and Nauvo in Finland

Rolls royce collaborates with Finnish state-owned Finferries to undertake research on autonomous ferry technologies. Seven months after the beginning of their partnership in May 2018, RR publicly demonstrated the Falco ferry operated completely autonomously in a trip from Parainen to Nauvo, Finland as well as an auto-docking system.

Industry

Transportation

Freight And Logistics

Project Overview

"Rolls-Royce has publicly demonstrated what it calls the “world’s first fully autonomous ferry” on a trip between Parainen and Nauvo in Finland.

The first fruits of this project — which is called SVAN (Safer Vessel with Autonomous Navigation) — have been revealed today after the team conducted around 400 hours of trials in the Turku archipelago using an adapted 53.8-meter Falco car ferry.

The ferry is loaded with myriad sensors, meshed with artificial intelligence (AI) software to help it identify and avoid objects in its immediate vicinity.

Traveling from Parainen to Nauvo, the Falco ferry operated completely autonomously, but the return journey was controlled remotely from a command center 50 kilometres away in Turku, demonstrating that the ship can be commandeered by a human if required.

Additionally, Rolls-Royce and Finferries demonstrated an “auto-docking” system that basically enables the ferry to alter its speed and course when it’s coming into port."

Reported Results

The ferry travelled completely autonomously from Parainen to Nauvo in Finland.

Technology

Function

Operations

General Operations

Background

"The British company entered a research partnership with Finnish state-owned Finferries back in May, revealing plans to “optimize ship safety and efficiency” through developing and demonstrating autonomous ferry technologies."

Benefits

Data

Data from sensors

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