Autonomous survey

The UK Hydrographic Office has contributed to a new UK government-funded study on navigational requirements for autonomous maritime vessels. The UKHO worked with L3 ASV and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to identify future data requirements for autonomous shipping and explore how navigational and wider geospatial data can be used for the safe navigation of smart and unmanned autonomous vessels. The study explored current navigational data and charts in terms of what they comprise, their structure and how they are updated. It then examined how these data sets could be repurposed to develop a prototype “Smart Chart” system, incorporating data such as radio signals, regulations, tides and foundation navigational data, that can be interpreted by a computer without the use of an onboard crew.