102 In April 2023, ocean science and engineering experts from around the world converged in Southampton, England, for the largest edition yet of the Ocean Business exhibition and conference. More than 5000 attendees from over 80 countries gathered at the National Oceanography Centre (NOC) for 3 days of innovations showcased by its 300 exhibitors, with new product launches and quayside demonstrations revealing the ongoing advances in maritime survey engineering. These demos and unveilings were dominated by uncrewed systems, with marine autonomy taking centre stage for revolutionising the efficiency and safety of offshore infrastructure inspections, ocean mapping and other applications critical to maritime industry. We attended the show to witness themost important launches, a selection of which we present here. Marine AI showcased the eighth and newest version of its Guardian AI suite of maritime control and autonomy software solutions. “Guardian AI has three different levels,” explainedMatthewRatsey. “The first is Guardian Vision, which offers a computer vision solution, then there’s Guardian Crewed, which takes whatever level of sensors customers want – be it a camera, radar, AIS or others – and uses the information from them to offer smart recommendations to aid the boat operator. “The third, GuardianAutonomy, implements those actions rather than just recommending them, on the basis of object detection, identification and analysis, as well as real-time risk assessment.” Version 8 is set to bring new enhancements toGuardianAI’s sensor fusion layer, to further improve the intelligence and safety of USVs using the solution beyond the sometimes limited or vague definitions of COLREGs – particularly in edge cases such aswhenmultiple vessels are detectedwithin range, and the autonomous shipmust simulate, select and navigate a safe path through them. Ratsey noted that the version of Marine AI integrated on the Mayflower Rory Jackson reports from this maritime engineering exhibition and finds that the tide of autonomy is in full flood Latest launches June/July 2023 | Uncrewed Systems Technology
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