Ship Predictor System (SPS)

Summary form only given. Manoeuvring and docking ships in confined waterways is difficult, time consuming and potentially dangerous. Disturbances caused by changing water currents, wind and waves, the rapidly changing effects of the sea bed, and by the approach of other ships add to manoeuvring difficulty. A ship's master or pilot can do little to counter these factors until their effect on the course or speed of the ship can be determined. Controlling a ship's movement is, at best, a reaction to the disturbance's effect on the ship, rather than the disturbance itself and at times this reaction occurs too late. This is thought to be the primary reason why accidents involving strikings and groundings outnumber all other types of ship accidents in Canada. Realizing the marine industry's need for a fast, reliable system to predict the future motion of a ship, the Canadian Centre for Marine Communications (CCMC), in collaboration with the Transportation Development Centre (TDC), initiated the SPS project. To meet the requirements and challenge of the project, under the Scientific Authority of TDC and CCMC, CORETEC Incorporated was selected to develop the system. The predictive component of the SPS is an innovative adaptive model that combines artificial intelligence technology (neural networks) with state-of-the-art mathematical modelling techniques. The SPS utilizes various sensors to provide real-time, high-precision prediction of a vessel's motion. Advanced SPS versions may be used in ship control.