IIT Madras Develops Digital Platform for Safe Maritime Navigation and Collision Avoidance

New Delhi, November 12 (Daily Kiran) : Researchers at IIT Madras have unveiled an innovative digital platform named ‘Cinev’, aimed at enhancing the safety of maritime navigation and collision avoidance. This platform allows for the testing of technologies designed to ensure secure ship movement without the need for actual sea trials.

Cinev creates a virtual environment that accurately simulates ocean waves, weather conditions, and the movement of nearby vessels. This enables the testing of automated navigation systems, route adherence, and collision avoidance techniques in a controlled setting. Notably, the researchers have successfully demonstrated that ships can autonomously select routes and avoid collisions using artificial intelligence.

Developed by the Department of Ocean Engineering at IIT Madras, Cinev integrates digital modeling, AI, virtual reality, and data from various sensors. Its primary goal is to facilitate the development and testing of vessels capable of autonomously navigating the seas without human intervention. Additionally, it provides maritime professionals and ship operators with training that closely resembles real-life conditions.

With over 80% of global trade conducted via maritime routes, safe navigation is crucial. Automated ships have the potential to make maritime transport safer and more efficient. However, testing these technologies in open waters is often costly and risky due to adverse weather and busy shipping lanes.

IIT Madras asserts that Cinev addresses these challenges by creating a real-time digital environment that simulates the ocean, vessels, sensors, and surrounding maritime traffic. This allows researchers to evaluate ship technologies in various scenarios for thousands of hours without deploying actual vessels. A significant feature of the platform is its capability to operate and train multiple autonomous ships simultaneously.

In busy maritime routes and around ports, vessels must comply with international collision avoidance regulations while monitoring the direction and speed of other ships. IIT Madras emphasizes that multiple AI-equipped vessels can learn and devise navigation strategies together using Cinev, which will aid in developing safe operational techniques in congested waters.

Cinev utilizes Unity 3D technology to replicate ocean waves, ship movements, and marine environments accurately. For validation, a large oil tanker, measuring approximately 320 meters, has been used as a standard ship model, ensuring that results in the virtual environment closely reflect real-world shipping conditions.

The platform also incorporates data from various advanced sensors, including laser-based distance measuring systems, marine radar, and images from dual cameras. Unlike many simulators that assume sensor data is always accurate, Cinev takes into account the real limitations of sensors, including potential inaccuracies and delays. This allows for testing navigational technologies under challenging conditions such as fog, rain, and low visibility.