milliAmpere: An Autonomous Ferry Prototype
Edmund Brekke, Egil Eide, Bjørn‐Olav H. Eriksen, Erik F. Wilthil, Morten Breivik, Even Skjellaug, Øystein Kaarstad Helgesen, Anastasios M. Lekkas, Andreas B. Martinsen, Emil H. Thyri, Tobias Rye Torben, E. Veitch, Ole Andreas Alsos, Tor Arne Johansen
Abstract
Abstract In this paper, we summarize the experiences with the autonomous passenger ferry development prototype milliAmpere, which has been used as a test platform in several research projects at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) since 2017. New algorithms for motion planning, motion control, collision avoidance, docking, multi-target tracking and localization have been developed and verified in full-scale experiments with milliAmpere. The infrastructure surrounding milliAmpere includes several sensor rigs supporting research on multi-sensor fusion and situational awareness, and a shore control lab which can be used to study the interaction between human operators and the autonomous ferry. Building upon the experiences with milliAmpere, the full-scale autonomous ferry milliAmpere2 was recently launched.