International Boat Industry – August-September 2019

 Modern 3D ‘stereo’ cameras are key to

allowing auto-docking to visualise and identify

its surroundings. They have been specially

adapted to cope with a saltwater environment

82 AUGUST–SEPTEMBER 2019 | International Boat Industry ibinews.com

TECHNICAL

SECTOR SPOTLIGHT | STEERING & TRANSMISSION

is a big difference between pleasure and

commercial applications. The pleasure boat

owner will go electric mainly due to their

concern for the environment. However,

the commercial customer uses it to save

money, reduce pollution, and give the vessel

a degree of redundancy. There is also the

safety aspect of having an entirely separate

energy source to fall back on.”

COMPUTER AS HELMSMAN

The ability to hand the steering and

transmission over to a cool-headed

computer has appealed to many potential

boat owners especially those with self-

parking cars. They have no wish to

compete with a cross wind and tidal rip

whilst also avoiding damage to other boats.

Coming to their rescue are a range of

projects that can now harness the gentle

gear changes and low power thrust of

electric motors or by-passed hydraulic

gearboxes to nudge the boat alongside.

Already ahead of the curve is Volvo

Penta, which bravely launched its self-

docking system to a large audience during

the Gothenburg stop of the 2018 Volvo

Ocean Race. The 68ft test boat made an

accurate, if highly cautious, approach into

a narrow gap between two £ multi-million

yachts and docked successfully stern-to.

Since then Volvo has been refining

the system and adding additional

cameras and sensors so that the computer

can distinguish between soft water and

hard land.

IBI had another impressive

demonstration at the Volvo test facility

near Gothenburg this year. The same

IPS equipped 30-ton Azimut – now with

upgraded sensors - backed itself successfully

alongside despite a brisk cross wind.

The man in charge of the self-docking

programme, Anders Thorin, explained that

Volvo has approached the challenge in a

series of achievable steps, the first being

to assist the driver with docking. The final

step will be handing over complete control

to AI.

“The self-docking demo gave us an

opportunity to engage with a wide array of

stakeholders,” explained Thorin. “Reflecting

on their input strengthened our convictions

that there is a big interested in functions

that assist boaters, not only fully automated

docking but also driver assistance for all

kinds of situations such as lock queues or

restricted passages.”

The stepwise approach is mainly

to allow sensor technology to mature

sufficiently to build complete trust between

the customer and the interface. These

include the Dynamic Positioning System,

available since 2009 but now being refined

to better help with close quarters handling.

The use of cameras and sensors will then

lead to the second stage, which is hazard

avoidance. The third phase will be fully

automatic docking without the need for

shore-based transponders, so in theory

any quayside or dock will be accessible,

rather than those specially equipped by

participating marinas.

However, Volvo Penta is already facing

competition from other concepts, such

as the new DockSense

system from Raymarine.

“Autopilots nowadays

are what we call ‘mature

tech’,” explained Jim Hands,

Raymarine’s director of

marketing. “The technology is

well proven and dependable.

However, autopilots are being

‘re-evolved’ to be even more sensitive

and intuitive. The most recent development

for us has been the new Attitude Heading

Reference Sensor, or AHRS. Basically, this

uses solid state gyros, similar to those in

current mobile phone technology. We have

incorporated this into our new system

called Raymarine Evolution. This employs

advanced gyro tech coupled to a lot of very

clever software. This allows the helmsman

• or autopilot – to steer more efficiently.
  “Evolution not only monitors the
  heading, but also the yaw and pitch. The
  system can also compensate for torque
  and prop walk, particularly noticeable
  on a single-outboard set up. The result is
  much sharper steering, with no need for
  a separate rudder sensor. Evolution can
  work with either steer-by-wire or a more
  traditional hydraulic system.”
  Both Volvo and Raymarine have used
  rugged marine versions of stereo vision
  cameras to determine a targets size,
  distance and type (land or water) with great
  accuracy. These cameras are positioned
  strategically around the boat and are
  equipped with automatic covers to protect
  the lenses.

 Raymarine’s Jim Hands likens joystick

control to drone flying. Intuitive – with good

visual feedback

 Volvo’s use of high quality cameras around

the boat can give an accurate and measured

view to either a human helmsman – or a

docking computer