An autonomous speed setting system to enhance operation of unmanned planing crafts in a seaway

Traditional manned planing crafts may present a high risk to crew onboard when operated in harsh and hostile environments. Consequently, the use of unmanned, Autonomous high-speed Planing Crafts (APCs) is a promising alternative for fast operations in littoral, confined and dangerous waters. However, ensuring the seaworthiness of these crafts, presents a significant challenge, particularly in regard to large vertical motions developed in a seaway which pose a hazard to payload and to the craft’s structural integrity. Therefore, a real time prediction and estimation of vertical accelerations in waves and a control system to set the craft's forward speed is considered as an essential requirement for safety operation of APCs in seaways. In the present study, a system to enhance the seaworthiness of APCs by employing an autonomous speed setting mechanism as response to the predicted APC behavior when operating in seaways is developed. The system employs an embedded analytical tool termed Motion Assessment of Planing Craft in a Seaway (MAPCS) for the prediction of vertical accelerations the crafts might encounter to the incoming waves. Information on the characteristics of those waves is provided by a dedicated vision system. The complete development of the vision-aided speed modulation system (VSMS) for the APCs' autonomous navigation and its test results are presented.