Damen Naval’s F.A.S.T. (Fieldlab Autonomous Sailing Technology) project has two goals, the main one being autonomous sailing. To this end, the F.A.S.T. team is developing hardware and software tools to enable safe and reliable autonomous operations. The secondary aim is sustainability, for which the project is replacing a 1990-built Damen Stan Patrol 900’s diesel engines with electric motors.

Working to increase its sustainable credentials, the vessel is currently at Vlissingen-Oost undergoing a substantial scope of refit work. After numerous supply chain delays, all the necessary equipment has now been delivered. “This consists of two 120 kilowatt electric motors, two 70 kilowatt hour battery racks, and all the auxiliary components like invertors, transformer and a shore charger,” says the project’s Autonomy Engineer Karine Jansen. “We have removed the old diesel engines and stripped out the rest of the little boat – all ready for the installation of the new electrical components.” The timing of the refit is “subject to change” notes Karine. This is due to the fact that there is still a lot of detailed engineering work to be done on the electrical scope. “We had initially wanted to get back in the water in July, but due to the engineering delays and because my maternity leave starts in June, we have to see how far we get.”

“Object avoidance is one of the puzzle pieces of autonomous shipping; for this project, this will involve the autonomous operation of the rudder and motor, altering the direction and speed respectively.” Karine Jansen

On the subject of autonomous sailing, Karine is pleased to report that the vessel’s object avoidance software is ready to be tested further. “Autonomous shipping is made up of lots of different puzzle pieces,” she explains. “Object avoidance is one of these pieces; for this project, this will involve the autonomous operation of the rudder and motor, altering the direction and speed respectively.” This object avoidance software will work in close conjunction with the vessel’s object detection equipment, which comprises a combination of AIS data, Radar, Lidar and camera images, each with their specific pros and cons. For example, while AIS data contain extensive information about ship size, speed and direction, its downsides include irregular update rates and inconsistent usage. “Therefore, it’s best to verify the AIS information with your own camera or radar,” Karine explains.

Empty and freshly painted engineroom. Empty and freshly painted engineroom.

Besides the Damen Naval team working on the project management and mechanical aspects of the project, F.A.S.T. involves other partners such as Alewijnse for the electrical scope and RH Marine on software development, all working together to get the little nine-metre long boat back in the water for further trials as soon as possible. In fact, here’s a link to a great video posted about the project by RH Marine on LinkedIn. But if the first test runs end up taking place before the end of Karine’s maternity leave, would she like to be involved? “Of course, I would be only too happy to come back to see that,” she smiles.

In other autonomy news…

Damen Naval’s work on autonomous vessels in not limited to the F.A.S.T. project. This is best demonstrated by the recent contract between COMMIT and the Dutch Naval Design collaboration. This agreement, signed on 12 April in The Hague, is for the design and development of Model Based Systems Engineering for a new unmanned surface vessel (USV) for the Royal Netherlands Navy. The 12-metre-long USVs will play a crucial role in anti-submarine warfare and will be used on board of the new Anti-Submarine Warfare Frigates (ASWF) that Damen Naval is designing and building for the Netherlands and Belgium. Commissioned by the Ministry of Defence, Dutch Naval Design consists of eleven partner organisations and is coordinated by Damen Naval.

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