Hyundai Motor and Kia’s mobile robot platform MobED has successfully completed the world’s first onboard autonomous driving demonstration aboard a working vessel, a step its backers expect to accelerate the era of smart ships, in which robots are deployed in cargo areas for safety inspections and material transport.
Classification society Korean Register, together with Hyundai Motor and Kia, South Korean liner HMM, its shipmanagement arm HMM Ocean Service and Goseong Engineering, ran the trial aboard the multipurpose vessel Hyundai Dubai, berthed at CJ Logistics’ dedicated steel pier in Changwon, South Gyeongsang province.
The demonstration set out to verify whether an autonomous robot developed primarily for use on land could cope with the constantly rocking environment of a ship.
An autonomous robot developed for use on land can cope with the constantly rocking environment of a ship
MobED’s four wheels each move independently using what Hyundai calls drive-and-lift technology, allowing the platform to keep its upper section level and drive stably over inclines and thresholds and through a vessel’s motion. Fitted with delivery equipment, inspection gear or cameras, the robot can be assigned a range of tasks depending on the purpose.
In the ship’s cargo area, straight and curved driving, low- and high-speed running, route learning and fully autonomous driving all functioned normally. In the vessel’s narrow passageways, route learning and low-speed driving succeeded, but spatial constraints meant the robot had to be switched to remote manual control rather than driving autonomously.
The participating organisations said the trial confirmed robots can be deployed in wide cargo areas without any separate modifications to the ship, and demonstrated their potential in spaces difficult for crew to access, such as cargo zones loaded with explosive or toxic materials.
One hurdle remains before robots roam further through the ship, the partners said: engine rooms and tight passageways will require additional sensors or the development of a smaller platform.
