Distributed Vessel Decision-Making for Safe-State Malfunction Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing complexity and autonomy of marine vessels lead to higher risks of malfunctions and cyber-attacks, making it difficult to ensure safety, especially in the absence of specialized personnel on board, as existing systems struggle to detect and respond to severe malfunctions effectively.
Innovation Solution
A marine vessel safety system comprising a vessel monitoring system, malfunction evaluation system, and safe-state control system that detects and evaluates malfunctions, and executes control commands to force the vessel into a safe state, including decision-making systems both on-board and remotely, to ensure safety in case of severe malfunctions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If the number of technical equipment and automation systems on marine vessels is increased to improve functionality and operational efficiency, then productivity and operational capability are improved, but device complexity increases and reliability decreases due to higher risk of malfunctions and cyber-attacks
Solution Approach 1:
The safety system is segmented into multiple independent malfunction evaluation systems, each capable of independently detecting and evaluating malfunctions. This segmentation allows the system to maintain reliability even if individual components fail, as other segments can continue to monitor and respond to malfunctions.
Solution Approach 2:
An independent malfunction evaluation system acts as an intermediary between the vessel's operational systems and the safe-state control system. This intermediary continuously monitors operational systems, evaluates detected malfunctions, and triggers safe-state transitions when necessary, providing a buffer that enhances overall system reliability without affecting operational productivity.
2Ease of operation
If automation and remote operation systems are implemented to reduce manual intervention, then ease of operation is improved and labor requirements are reduced, but difficulty of detecting and measuring malfunctions increases due to software errors and cyber-attacks
Solution Approach 1:
The malfunction evaluation system performs preliminary detection and evaluation of malfunctions before they can propagate through the automated systems. By continuously monitoring system states and comparing them against expected parameters, the system identifies anomalies early, enabling timely intervention before software errors or cyber-attacks can cause severe damage.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous feedback loops where the malfunction evaluation system constantly monitors operational systems, evaluates their state, and provides feedback to the safe-state control system. This feedback mechanism enables real-time detection of malfunctions in automated systems, maintaining ease of operation while improving malfunction detection capability.
3Reliability
If specialized personnel are deployed on-board to handle malfunctions, then reliability is improved through immediate expert intervention, but device complexity and operational cost increase
Solution Approach 1:
The vessel's safety system is designed to be self-service capable through automated malfunction detection and evaluation. The malfunction evaluation system automatically detects malfunctions, evaluates their severity, and triggers appropriate safe-state responses without requiring specialized personnel on-board. This self-service capability maintains reliability while reducing the complexity associated with staffing requirements.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention relates to marine vessel safety system which ensures that a marine vessel enters a safe state in the event of at least one malfunction in any vessel operation systems and components of the marine vessel. The marine vessel safety system comprises at least one vessel monitoring system, at least one malfunction evaluation system and a safe-state control system.