ROC & Human Factors

Work Package 3

ROC & Human Factors

Control Centre, Photo: Kystverket
Photo: Norwegian Coastal Administration

Our objective is to develop safe and efficient human-machine interfaces and interaction for remote operation centres (ROCs).

MASS will for the foreseeable future be dependent on a land-based remote operation - centre (ROC). The role of the ROC will be to monitor the status of the ship, and to intervene if the automation fails. The location, removed from the context of the vessel, will be a great challenge in order to give adequate situation awareness to the ROC operators. The interaction among MASS-ROC and conventional ships will depend heavily on sensor and AIS information, as well as cooperation with the vessel traffic service (VTS). 

The main research tasks are:

  • Task 3.1, which will research a reliable decision-support system for the ROC based on sensor fusion of available real-time environmental data and simulation models of the ship (“digital twin”)
  • Task 3.2, which will research a usable Human-centre designed based HMI for the ROC. With situation awareness and workload in mind, develop the interface humans and automation onboard and in the ROC, and means of communicate intentions to conventional ships. 
  • Task 3.3, which will focus on research, procedures, manning and competence needs for ROC Research the needed competence for the new “mariners” in the ROC and also work procedures and division of labour between operators and automation.
  • Task 3.4, which will focus on iteratively, to verify usability and validate performance in the ROC in simulators and at sea. The prototypes developed will be tested with end users at the NTNU simulator centre in Ålesund and on the research vessel Gunnerus.

Projects

Projects

PhD projects

PhD projects

  • Interaction Design, Felix-Marcel Peterman
  • AI decision transparency in autonomous maritime operations, Andreas Madsen
  • Explainable AI for Autonomous Ships, Eirik Fagerhaug
  • Decision Support Systems for Autonomous Vessels, Luka Grgicevic

 

Postdoc research

  • Remote control for crane, Taufik Akbar Sitompul

Recent publications

Recent publications

Madsen, Andreas; Aarset, Magne; Alsos, Ole Andreas. (2022) "Safe and efficient maneuvering of a Maritime Autonomous Surface Ship (MASS) during encounters at sea: A novel approach". Maritime Transport Research. Volum 3.

Alsos, Ole Andreas; Hodne, Philip; Skåden, Oskar Kristoffer; Porathe, Thomas. (2022) "Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships: Automation Transparency for Nearby Vessels". Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS).

Alsos, Ole Andreas; Veitch, Erik Aleksander; Pantelatos, Leander Spyridon; Vasstein, Kjetil; Eide, Egil; Petermann, Felix-Marcel; Breivik, Morten. (2022) "NTNU Shore Control Lab: Designing shore control centres in the age of autonomous ships". Journal of Physics: Conference Series (JPCS).

Porathe, Thomas. (2022) "Programming “The ordinary practice of seamen” into the AI-navigator: friendly and communicative interaction design between autonomous and manned vessels". Necesse. Volum 7.(1) s. 57-65.

Sitompul, Taufik Akbar. (2022) "Human–Machine Interface for Remote Crane Operation: A Review". Multimodal Technologies and Interaction. Volum 6.(6)