Remember the end of the movie, "Speed 2 Cruise Control."
Posted on 06/26/2016 7:19:43 PM PDT by dangerdoc
Rolls-Royce isn't limiting its robotic transportation plans to luxury cars. The British transportation firm has outlined a strategy for deploying remote-controlled and autonomous cargo vessels. It's working on virtual decks where land-based crews could control every aspect of a ship, complete with VR camera views and monitoring drones to spot issues that no human ever could. Accordingly, Rolls is designing boats where humans wouldn't have to come aboard. In theory, one human would steer several boats -- crew shortages would disappear overnight.
The move to crew-free ships promises more than a few advantages, Rolls says. You wouldn't need a bridge or living quarters, so you'd have much more room for the goods you're hauling. They'd be safer and more efficient, too, since you'd cut out many human errors (not to mention the direct risks from rough weather and pirates) and streamline operations. Robotic ships might cut the number of available jobs, but they would let distant crews handle more complex tasks without being overwhelmed.
Some of Rolls' concepts are more Star Trek than real life at the moment (its imagery includes interactive holograms), but this isn't just a theoretical exercise. One ship, the Stril Luna, already has a smart Unified Bridge system in place for coordinating all its equipment. The aim is to launch the first remote-controlled cargo ships by 2020, and to have autonomous boats on the water within two decades. All told, civilians might only have to head out to sea for pleasure cruises.
When I was in the NAVY we had dozens of guys keeping the props turning.
Who will be onboard to push the reset button when the computer that controls the whole mess blue-screens?
Details, details.
Next, some Russian hacker will invent remote control pirates and sell them on the dark net. ;-)
double LOL
>>Who will be onboard to push the reset button when the computer that controls the whole mess blue-screens?<<
Who indeed, Bender?
Crew shortages? Bilgewater, this is to avoid paying salaries.
That’s why these big ships now are undermanned.
Im not sure how a robotic ship is less vulnerable to piracy, unless it also has remote controlled weapons...
More jobs gone.
What could possibly go wrong.
A neighbor’s boat engine got stuck and it went round and round and round and round. He was lucky to jump out without it coming around onto him. Thankfully, the water was calm so it didn’t crash into anything. It finally ran out of gas.
Someday all jobs will probably be done by automation or robots. What then? What will people do to make a living? If the world economy is going this way, what will people do to earn the money to buy the goods made by automation? Automated goods so cheap to make they are free? Guaranteed income for all? Something will have to change.
Remember the end of the movie, "Speed 2 Cruise Control."
I think the theory is that they wouldn’t be able to stop the ships. Can’t stop, can’t unload, unless you can hack them in which case you can make off with both cargo and ship.
Right now such integrated systems are all operating in Control Net or similar I/O using ethernet or DH+, all using IP addresses to eliminate all the miles of hard wiring. Does anyone realize how many times per day communication interruptions occur?
Either that or we set new goals based on the things the technology makes possible which weren’t possible before :)
There’s a whole universe out there!
I was on an old LPD, they were always have trouble making steam.
If something breaks on a robotic ship does it sit somewhere for weeks waiting for a repair crew? I don’t think they will have self repairing ships in the foreseeable future.
They will likely have one well paid tech aboard the ship for emergencies such as that.
Big diesel engines are very reliable.
Think of being on a shipwreak in the middle of the pacific, and watching automated ships pass you by...
What about the pirates?
OK so they need a crew of one, ha ha
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.