Autonomy for Ships: System Thinking and Engineering

Marine autonomy research has focused on al-gorithmic and technical developments, targeting autonomous craft in restricted areas where international rules and regu-lations are not prioritised. This paper addresses the system engineering aspect of a highly complex system in which the seamless, predictable, and secure interoperability of vendor-specific hardware and software subsystems is a fundamental requirement for designing and implementing cyber-physical systems with artificial intelligence to assist or replace the navigating officer, such as autonomous marine surface vehicles. It addresses international rules in the sector and exhibits a system architecture that can fulfil the criteria for safe behaviour in foreseen occurrences and the capacity to request human aid if the autonomous system cannot manage a problem. The system thinking and engineering provided in this article have been applied to The GreenHopper, a harbour bus currently under construction and intended to undergo certification and enter commercial service.