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Smart bridge : het creeren van een toekomstvisie op de bediening van sleephopperzuigers

Holwerda, C.H. (2016) Smart bridge : het creeren van een toekomstvisie op de bediening van sleephopperzuigers.

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Abstract:This report describes the study on how Trailing Suction Hopper Dredgers in about ten years ide-ally should be operated. A vision, called Smart Bridge, is developed, commissioned by IHC Sys-tems, one of Royal IHC’s business units. Royal IHC is world’s market leader in designing, building and maintaining dredging vessels. IHC Systems is responsible for developing the systems needed for, amongst others, the control of these ships. A widely used type of dredging vessel is the Trail-ing Suction Hopper Dredger (TSHD). This ship is unique for it is not stationary: a TSHD is sailing while dredging soil with its suction tube from the seabed. The operator on a TSHD is responsible for both controlling the dredging process and the naviga-tion of the ship. The workload can be very high during particular phases of the process. To lower the workload, IHC Systems is automating more and more functions. The automation has major consequences for the Human Machine Interface (HMI) which is used by the operator to control the vessel. Nowadays, the HMI has many controls, which are not logically located and displays an overload of information. The operator has to accommodate to the HMI, instead of the other way around: the operator has to search for the information himself and the connection with the real world is not always clear. The HMI has been redesigned with respect to the operator. Therefore, research has been done on the capacities and limits of both the operator and the system, on the current task allocation and on human’s decision making process. Instead of assigning separated tasks to either the operator or the system, the operation has been translated to a cooperation between them. The operator is no longer considered as user of the HMI, but as an actor involved in de operation. The HMI has become an interface, which facilitates clear communication between the operator and the other actor: the system. Ideas have been generated and concepts have been developed, based on the newest technolo-gies in the field of interface design. For the Smart Bridge, a concept is chosen which makes use of the HoloLens by Microsoft. This holographic glasses projects virtual objects, called holograms. While looking through the HoloLens, the holograms are around you, mixed with your actual envi-ronment. The concept makes use of holograms to overlay the important parts of the vessel. Those holograms can be dragged inside unto a half-transparent hologram, representing the whole TSHD. This concept will give the operator insight in layout of the ship and on how this layout con-tributes to the process. Initially, it was planned to show all the process values next to the belonging holograms, to give the operator full insight in the system’s contributions. Because of the current developments at IHC Systems in the field of Artificial Intelligence, it was decided not to do so. IHC Systems expects to have completed the development of a completely autonomous system in ten years. This system will be able to control the TSHD autonomously in normal situations. The operator will only be needed during extraordinary circumstances, like malfunction due to clogging, and will not be overloaded with process details. The operator can monitor the process by looking at the moving holograms, representing the components of the ship. In case of malfunction, the system will ask the operator for help. Because the operator will not have full insight in the normal process, the system will support him during this troubleshooting by providing all available information with the use of the holograms. In this way, the operator will be supported in processing the information and making decisions on how to solve the problem. In the future the Smart Bridge will provide a cooperation that is carefully adjusted to the capaci-ties and limits of both the operator and the system. The operator and the system will support each other by clear two-way communication and they will both have the opportunity to learn and develop their skills. This is made possible by the use of the HoloLens. Nevertheless, this study only includes a basic vision on how the operator and the system operate the TSHD together in near future. Further research should be done on the possibilities of several holographic glasses, to make a proper choice for glasses that meet the vision optimally. The glasses should give the operator clear insight in the layout of the ship en should present the com-munication clearly. The information, presented by the system to the operator, should be adjusted to the cognitive structures of the operator and a balance should be found between clarity into each others actions and the allocation of tasks. Furthermore, legislations regarding the control of ships, that were examined during this study, must be applied carefully to ensure a safe operation in the future.
Item Type:Essay (Bachelor)
Faculty:ET: Engineering Technology
Subject:20 art studies
Programme:Industrial Design BSc (56955)
Link to this item:https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/71260
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