Page 25: of Marine Technology Magazine (January 2023)

mous operations. These efforts, the com-

HMS-620 BUBBLE GUN pany writes, “embody what mobility in a smart city is all about.”

MARINE SEISMIC SYSTEM “Swarm technology,” MacFarlane ex- APPLICATIONS plained, is the capability of an autono- • Shallow Gas Hazard Surveys • Oi shore Wind Turbine mous ferry ? eet to network, communi- • Geotechnical InvesO gaO on • Sand Resource InvesO gaO on cate, respond and act together as market conditions demand. “Swarm intelligence,” MacFarlane said, “is the collective behavior of decentral- ized, self-organized systems, also referred to as swarm robotics. In our application of swarm principles, the idea is that when

Portable System Requires only

Wavelet operating in a ? eet each ferry will col- 2KW at 250ms Ping Rate

CorrelaO on > 0.96 lect information about its own state and situation in relation to both environment and passenger movements. The informa- tion from each ferry will be shared across the ? eet and collectively the ferries will have the capability to dynamically adjust their routes to enable the most effective

Sand Reclamation Data Collected Using HMS-620 transport of passengers and goods with

Courtesy URI Graduate School of Oceanography respect to waiting times and energy ef-

Falmouth Scienti¿ c, Inc.

fectiveness.”

Pocasset, MA USA 02559 • Tel: +1-508-564-7640 • Fax: +1-508-564-7643

Big data in the driver’s seat.

[email protected] • www.falmouth.com

Once the passenger surge declines, swarming ends, and each vessel reas- signs itself, but staying in constant con- tact with, and responding to, supply and demand across the ? eet and operating territory.

MacFarlane said Hyke is on schedule to launch the ? rst new ferry in Fredrikstad,

Norway in 2023. Covid caused some pro- gram delays, particularly with deliveries of equipment and materials. The Norwe- gian Maritime Authority will give ? nal approval for passenger operations; that safety review has started.

Hyke’s goal is to provide autonomous operations in 2024. MacFarlane said au- tonomy is a high priority, but the ? rst goal is to get underway. Startup is important for Hyke’s larger business plan, MacFar- lane noted, because “there are many cities that do not have any urban city ferries, so we are in a way creating the market and we have a viable business case without autonomous operations.”

Importantly, though, autonomy provides operational opportunities and lowers costs. In addition, MacFarlane comment- ed that “it addresses a growing problem – the lack of trained crews.” He said that www.marinetechnologynews.com 25

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