Application of the Kinetic Voronoi Diagram to the Real-Time Navigation of Marine Vessels

Abstract

In this paper a new type of GIS system for maritime navigation safety is proposed. The system takes advantage of the properties of the kinetic Voronoi diagram, and uses the "quad-edge" data structure for the real-time maintenance of the spatial relationships of ships and other navigational objects. The locations of ships are updated using a standard onboard AIS transponder, and moving-points Voronoi algorithms. The spatial relationships are used for collision detection and avoidance. The system is aimed at tackling the main cause of marine accidents - human errors - by providing navigational aid and decision support to navigators. The brief introduction into static and kinematic Voronoi methods is given and is followed by the discussion of different types of GIS systems for marine purposes. The state-of-the-art in maritime safety and its major developments are also covered.