WP3. Engineering
Responsible partner: Katholieke Universiteit Leuven
Involved partners:
Delft University of Technology (TUD), E. Van Wingen NV (EVW), Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (KUL), Opleidingscentrum voor Hout en Bouw vzw (OHB) and University of Oldenburg (UOL)
Period: May 2020 - June 2023
Description:
- [KUL] Integrating electrical drive system, instrumentation and a control unit to the Maverick,
a 1 tonne catamaran research vessel that is currently manually controlled. As such, the aim is to significantly increase automation as well as to allow for safe remote control at critical regions (locks, terminals, ...). - [KUL, EVW, OHB] Development of a dedicated zero-emission urban vessel that can navigate small rivers and canals. The technology of (1) will be scaled up and subsequently implemented onto this new vessel. The vessel's behaviour will be carefully analyzed and optimized throughout the real life trials.
- [TUD] High-level automation (coordination) of multiple "small autonomous boats" whilst simulating an urban environmental context. To this end, the behaviour of an urban fleet will be investigated, including:
- overall performance
- reliability and durability
- cost-efficiency
- energy-consumption
- safety
- vessel-to-vessel and vessel-to-shore communication
- [UOL, TUD] Developing and integrating a modular communication layer for a mobile remote control centre that can be used for various vessel types. This includes
- Determining adequate requirements for RCC
- providing modular API for interfacing with different assets
- testing vessel-to-shore communication
- [KUL, UOL, EVW]
Identify certification, legislation and safety issues for urban vessels related to design and system-integration as well as remote control.