Autonomous ship design and ship safety took a leap forward, following the award of an approval in principal (AiP) to Hyundai Heavy Industries (HHI) for an AI-based fire monitoring system
The independently developed AI-based safety management and monitoring system HiCAMS will be one of the core technologies to manage and control safety aboard next-generation smart ships and autonomous ships.
HiCAMS received the AiP from class society Korean Register of Shipping and leading flag state the Liberian Registry. The simultaneous approvals from class and flag state are expected to lay the foundation for expanding the application of this technology to the global fleet and providing valuable increases in vessel safety.
This AiP is the world’s first classification certification for computer vision-based AI solutions for ship’s internal fire monitoring. This technology would provide a modern replacement option for existing fire monitoring sensors with an AI-based early fire monitoring system that combines image recognition/processing technology, ship interior and fire big data, and advanced AI algorithms.
Fire monitoring sensors can take up to 2 minutes to detect a flame or smoke by the sensor. HiCAMS, based on video/deep learning, has greater speed and accuracy of fire detection by enabling immediate recognition. This technology could significantly reduce the risk of fire inside a ship.
An official for HHI said this was the first time a shipbuilding organisation incorporated artificial intelligence into the field of ship safety management. “Starting with the development of this AI-based fire monitoring system, we will pre-empt the future autonomous ship era by expanding it to the entire ship safety field.”
HHI plans to follow this image-based AI fire monitoring solution with technologies that can detect various accidents and emergency situations (personal accidents, oil leaks, dampness, container overturns, etc) that may occur inside and outside of the ship during operation. AI-based ship safety management and surveillance systems are expected to be applied as an essential system for safe navigation, and aboard autonomous ships that are currently being developed.
Other related solutions developed and commercialised by HHI over the last two years are HiNAS, a navigation assistance system and core technology of autonomous ships and a virtual commissioning solution based on a digital twin (HiDTS). Other AI solutions for internal ship safety management are in development for next-generation smart and autonomous ships.
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