The world’s first crewless cargo ship is coming - next year.
- Thread starter kev_rm
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markpierce
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I'd like a picture of the ship. Carries no fuel but am not sure how solar panels without huge storage batteries would work on a container ship if substantial sailing distances are expected?
AusCan
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It doesn't have solar panels. It has huge storage batteries. No need to charge on board. Its only doing short runs down the Norwegian coast.
When loading containers, why not add one extra container full of LiFePO4 batteries.
hfoster
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Having strong background in robotic and automation I can tell you that this looks great on paper. However too many thing can go wrong, especially at sea even if this vessel is making short runs.
They said the vessel be operated by a crew then run remotely. That can be done, however they will need a techs onboard for a failsafe in case the remote link fails as well as any other break downs.
Also they said the ship will cost 25 mil. About three times as much as much as a conventional ship of similar size, but will save up to 90% in annual operating costs by eliminating both fuel and crew. Mmmm NO!
The Shipping rates will be sky high to cover the cost of building the ship as well as the tech support for the vessel which are high end paying jobs. The whole idea of automation is to cut cost and show in x years how much you will save.
They never said how many years it will take to recoup the cost of building the ship did they? Nor the did not say what the operating cost will be for the ship.
So therefore to me this is just R&D much in the same way they have been R&Ding automated cars that drive you down the road. Look how long they have been trying to get that off the ground. It’s been decades and we still do not have it.
Do not get me wrong. R&D is a good thing. However in this case, we will not be seeing the oceans filled with automated cargo ships for many many years down the road!
Cheers
H.
They said the vessel be operated by a crew then run remotely. That can be done, however they will need a techs onboard for a failsafe in case the remote link fails as well as any other break downs.
Also they said the ship will cost 25 mil. About three times as much as much as a conventional ship of similar size, but will save up to 90% in annual operating costs by eliminating both fuel and crew. Mmmm NO!
The Shipping rates will be sky high to cover the cost of building the ship as well as the tech support for the vessel which are high end paying jobs. The whole idea of automation is to cut cost and show in x years how much you will save.
They never said how many years it will take to recoup the cost of building the ship did they? Nor the did not say what the operating cost will be for the ship.
So therefore to me this is just R&D much in the same way they have been R&Ding automated cars that drive you down the road. Look how long they have been trying to get that off the ground. It’s been decades and we still do not have it.
Do not get me wrong. R&D is a good thing. However in this case, we will not be seeing the oceans filled with automated cargo ships for many many years down the road!
Cheers
H.
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RT Firefly
Enigma
Golly. I must be on everyone's ignore list...
http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=576118&postcount=4339
http://www.trawlerforum.com/forums/showpost.php?p=576118&postcount=4339
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kev_rm
Senior Member
About how long? About 8 years in earnest (when google started) and we have this:
https://www.tesla.com/videos/autopilot-self-driving-hardware-neighborhood-short
So I'm not sure what you mean by "not for many years", I'd personally estimate around another 5. We are not in the linear growth mode of automation any more.
hfoster
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The concept of selfdriving cars started in the 1970’s. The system of beam control in the roads was developed by Westinghouse. It was part of their F-4 fathom guides system project. So from the 1970’s to Google’s R&D system of selfdriving cars is 30 years plus.
That is a great video and look really cool. However the car is being guided by GPS. While GPS is really great and wonderful it’s still not 100%. So therefore until those bugs are worked out we will have to drive our cars.
I hope you are right in your 5 year thinking. However I do not believe so. The cost factors involved are too high at this point. There is no shipping company in the world that would spend more money to ship cargo around the world when they can do it cheaper the way they are doing it now.
I guess the best way to put it like this. Look how much the U.S. spend on their Dorne program. It’s basically the same system.
As I said I am all for R&D, however R&D takes time to get the cost down to remove the old system. Just take VSH to DVD. DVD is a heck of a lot cheaper to make.
Cheers.
H.
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