Busan Port Authority Opens Era of AI Autonomous Ships Through International Joint Research

Infrared Imaging Technology Enables Precise Detection
Even at Night and in Severe Weather
AI Training Aims to Suggest Obstacle Avoidance Directions and Routes

Busan Port Authority (BPA, President Song Sanggeun) is officially launching a research project titled "Development of an All-round Situational Awareness Multimodal AI System for Ship Obstacle Detection and Collision Avoidance" through an international joint research collaboration between Korea and Canada.

This research will be conducted over three years in cooperation with five domestic and international private companies and research institutions.

Participants include Kennit, a domestic specialist in autonomous ship solutions; Busan Technopark; Chonnam National University-Industry Cooperation Foundation; and Current Scientific Corporation, a Canadian company specializing in maritime surveillance and imaging equipment.

The core objective of the research is to address the issue of reduced detection performance in existing systems under nighttime and severe weather conditions, and to develop a system that uses AI to not only provide simple warnings but also detect and avoid obstacles through a series of processes.

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Currently, most port autonomous navigation assistance systems rely on standardized navigation equipment such as radar, AIS (Automatic Identification System, which automatically transmits and receives key information such as vessel position, speed, and direction), and ECDIS (Electronic Chart Display and Information System).

However, these devices are often not installed on small vessels, and under conditions such as fog, rain, or nighttime, their recognition rates decrease and detection errors occur, increasing the risk of collisions.

To overcome these problems, the plan is to secure an all-round field of view using panoramic infrared imaging-based sensor technology, enabling stable object detection even in limited visibility conditions such as severe weather.

Additionally, this project will move beyond the simple obstacle warning capabilities of existing systems and implement an integrated AI-based obstacle avoidance decision-making structure, encompassing obstacle detection, risk assessment, collision avoidance judgment, and route re-planning.

Song Sanggeun, President of Busan Port Authority, stated, "Through this international joint research, we will ensure that Busan Port leads the trend of autonomous ships in port operations."

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This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.