Real-time simulation of ship movements for a robot-assisted e-fueling process: A pathway to decarbonization through sector coupling

Abstract

As part of the energy transition, the UN shipping organization has decided that by 2050 the oceans should be sailed in a climate-neutral way. As most ships are still based on fossil fuels, alternative propulsion systems such as hydrogen or electrically powered units must now be investigated. In the development of new ships, autonomous steering systems are also increasingly being researched. Therefore, the development of an autonomous fueling process for ships, based on sustainable e-fuels, is crucial for implementing sector coupling and thus decarbonizing the transportation industry. To execute the autonomous fueling process in a test environment, robots can be used to emulate the movement of the ship and accomplish the autonomous plugging and fueling process. When simulating ship movements multiple approaches are known, ranging from simple algebraic equations up to complex numerical simulations based on differential equations. We present an approach for a real-time-capable simulation of ship movements that can be performed by a collaborative robot kinematics. The wave simulation is based on the oceanographic spectra and the Inverse Fast Fourier Transform. With this approach, simulation times of less than ten milliseconds are demonstrated.