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A special issue of Applied Sciences (ISSN 2076-3417). This special issue belongs to the section "Transportation and Future Mobility".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (22 April 2022) | Viewed by 28187

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Prof. Dr. Yong Ma

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Guest Editor

State Key Laboratory of Maritime Technology and Safety, School of Navigation, Wuhan University of Technology, 1178 Heping Road, Wuhan, Hubei, 430063, China
Interests: intelligent navigation for surface vehicles; path planning; path following; motion control; networked control algorithm
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Prof. Dr. Zhouhua Peng

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School of Marine Electrical Engineering, Dalian Maritime University, Dalian 116026, China
Interests: cooperative control; adaptive control; optimization methods with applications in formation control of autonomous surface/underwater vehicles
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Dr. Jinfen Zhang

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National Engineering Research Center for Water Transport Safety (WTS Center), Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan, China
Interests: maritime traffic safety; risk assessment; intelligent ships; collision avoidance decision making
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Dr. Le Qi

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor

1. School of Navigation, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430063, China
2. Hubei Key Laboratory of Inland Shipping Technology, Wuhan 430063, China
3. National Engineering Research Center for Water Transport Safety, Wuhan University of Technology, Wuhan 430063, China
Interests: transportation engineering; ship traffic flow modeling and simulation

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Maritime transportation system and traffic engineering play vital roles in the domain of the shipping industry. Maritime transportation mainly focuses on the navigational safety and efficiency enhancement of the navigation of vessels all across the world. During the past several decades, with the rapid development of automation control and information technology, especially with the emerging autonomous navigation, the research fields and contents of the maritime transportation system and traffic engineering have been greatly extended.

Probing into the aspects of maritime transportation system and traffic engineering, including the vessel traffic flow, the vessel behavior, the safety assessment of the maritime traffic engineering, the ship routing and the vessel traffic systems, their corresponding theories and technologies of are being updated impressively.

This Special Issue of Applied Sciences aims to target the above opportunities and challenges. Researchers from both academia and industry are invited to submit unpublished research work related to the novel theory and technology of the maritime transportation system and traffic engineering. Meanwhile, original researches related to the autonomous navigation, the heterogeneous traffic flow, the intelligent control, the traffic accident prevention, the vessel traffic simulation, etc. are strongly welcomed for publication.

Prof. Dr. Yong Ma
Dr. Zhouhua Peng
Dr. Jinfen Zhang
Dr. Le Qi

Guest Editors

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Keywords

maritime transportation system
maritime traffic engineering
marine traffic risk assessment and simulation

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Published Papers (11 papers)

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Research

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13 pages, 2494 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Novel Energy-Saving Route Planning Algorithm for Marine Vehicles

by Ying Ding, Ronghui Li, Haiqing Shen, Jiawen Li and Liang Cao

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(12), 5971; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12125971 - 11 Jun 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1890

Abstract

Recently, the ship energy consumption issue has been in the spotlight. Meanwhile, new conventions and standards of ship energy conservation as well as ship emission reduction have been continuously introduced by the International Maritime Organization and governments around the world. Energy conservation is a crucial factor in ship route planning. This paper proposes an improved ant colony algorithm that can handle a complicated ocean current environment and find an optimal energy-saving path. Firstly, this paper focuses on both the path length and energy consumption. To reduce energy consumption, a comprehensive energy cost function is introduced by a conventional ant colony algorithm. In addition, this paper analyzes the influence of the ocean current speed and setting on a marine vehicle and establishes an improved ant colony algorithm model based on the influence of the ocean current. Finally, simulation tests are carried out in Lianyungang and its surrounding areas to test the energy consumption performance of the improved ant colony algorithm. The simulation result shows that the improved ant colony algorithm can significantly reduce the energy consumption by 3.326% compared with the traditional algorithm. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maritime Transportation System and Traffic Engineering)

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13 pages, 1489 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Fast Maritime Target Identification Algorithm for Offshore Ship Detection

by Jinshan Wu, Jiawen Li, Ronghui Li, Xing Xi, Dongxu Gui and Jianchuan Yin

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(10), 4938; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12104938 - 13 May 2022

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 2508

Abstract

The early warning monitoring capability of a ship detection algorithm is significant for jurisdictional territorial waters and plays a key role in safeguarding the national maritime strategic rights and interests. In this paper, a Fast Maritime Target Identification algorithm, FMTI, is proposed to identify maritime targets rapidly. The FMTI adopts a Single Feature Map Fusion architecture as its encoder, thereby improving its detection performance for varying scales of ship targets, from tiny-scale targets to large-scale targets. The FMTI algorithm has a decent detection accuracy and computing power, according to the mean average precision (mAP) and floating-point operations (FLOPs). The FMTI algorithm is 7% more accurate than YOLOF for the mAP measure, and FMTI’s FLOPs is equal to 98.016 G. The FMTI can serve the demands of marine vessel identification while also guiding the creation of supplemental judgments for maritime surveillance, offshore military defense, and active warning. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maritime Transportation System and Traffic Engineering)

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27 pages, 13037 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design of Fairway Width Based on a Grounding and Collision Risk Model in the South Coast of Korean Waterways

by Won-Sik Kang, Young-Soo Park, Myoung-Ki Lee and Sangwon Park

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(10), 4862; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12104862 - 11 May 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 2518

Abstract

As a method of reviewing the design of new fairways and the redesign of existing fairways, we proposed a fairway design plan based on the collision and grounding probability, considering vessel traffic. A case study was conducted on the four traffic separation schemes (TSS) on the southern coast, which is the most complex coast among Korean coastal waters. The evaluation items of Korea’s Maritime Traffic Safety Assessment Scheme, the PIANC Guide, and the Port and Fishing Port Design Standards were all satisfied; however, some fairways had very high ship congestion at specific times, exceeding the fairway capacity. For each target fairway, the collision risk using the environmental stress (ES) model and the grounding risk using the IWRAP Mk II Model were analyzed. The grounding risk was found to be equally good, but the aggregation environmental stress (

E S_{A}

) value, according to the ES model, was high in three fairways. The widths of the three fairways with high risk were partially expanded, and, thus, were re-evaluated. The overall

E S_{A}

was reduced, and the psychological burden of operators due to the marine environment, such as the fairways, was significantly eased. Based on the results of this study, it would be beneficial to apply a design scheme using collision and stranded risk models when designing new fairways or reviewing existing fairways. An appropriate fairway design plan is prepared that, through further research using various evaluation models and techniques, could be useful in coastal waters in the future. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maritime Transportation System and Traffic Engineering)

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30 pages, 12113 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research on the Evacuation Characteristics of Cruise Ship Passengers in Multi-Scenarios

by Min Hu and Wei Cai

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(9), 4213; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12094213 - 21 Apr 2022

Cited by 8 | Viewed by 3347

Abstract

As a popular way of travelling on water, cruise tourism is welcomed by the public. The cruise ship, as a large water-borne city, can accommodate a large number of passengers, but simultaneously their safety should be ensured in the event of an emergency. This work studied the evacuation characteristics of passengers by analyzing evacuation processes in multiple scenarios on cruise ships. Four typical evacuation scenarios were established, and the initial parameters of passengers were defined by creating a passenger agent. Simulation experiments were carried out for these scenarios, and the results show that groups of passengers need more time to complete the evacuation than individual passengers. The number of passengers arriving at the embarkation area in one time period under the group evacuation scenario is less than that under the individual evacuation scenario. However, the peak period of arrival at the embarkation area under the group evacuation scenario lasts longer than that under the individual evacuation scenario. For passengers with slower walking speeds, they may complete the evacuation in a shorter time as long as their cabins are near the embarkation deck or in the suitable main vertical zones. This proves that the evacuation efficiency of passengers is affected by their initial positions, and evacuation time can be reduced by means of the allocation of cabins according to the movement characteristics of passengers. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maritime Transportation System and Traffic Engineering)

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13 pages, 2069 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Maximum Safe Parameters of Outbound Loaded Vessels for Wind Turbine Installation

by Stanisław Gucma, Rafał Gralak, Marcin Przywarty and Wojciech Ślączka

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(8), 3868; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12083868 - 11 Apr 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2162

Abstract

A paper presents problems related to the safe operation of wind turbine installation vessels in port waterways. It presents a developed method for determining maximum safe lengths of blades of wind turbines loaded transversely on a jack-up vessel leaving a given port. In this method, the safety criterion for navigation is the acceptable risk of accidents, whose scenarios are determined by the identification of hazards in the studied waterway. Based on this safety criterion, the confidence level of the width of the safe maneuvering area of the loaded jack-up vessel and the maximum safe lengths of the transversely loaded wind turbine blades, respectively, are determined. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maritime Transportation System and Traffic Engineering)

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23 pages, 1367 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Robust Adaptive Path Following Control Strategy for Underactuated Unmanned Surface Vehicles with Model Deviation and Actuator Saturation

by Yunsheng Fan, Xinpeng Zou, Guofeng Wang and Dongdong Mu

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(5), 2696; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12052696 - 4 Mar 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1828

Abstract

This paper shows solicitude for the path following control issues of underactuated unmanned surface vehicles subject to unknown external disturbances, deviation of vessel model parameters and actuator saturation. Initially, an improved adaptive integral line-of-sight (IALOS) guidance law is introduced to estimate the sideslip angle, which helps to promote the precision of path following. Furthermore, a finite-time convergent disturbance observer is utilized to size up time-varying disturbances and the single-parameter neural network strategy is utilized to reduce the impact of model deviation. Meanwhile, by introducing a finite-time auxiliary dynamic system to improve the impact of actuator saturation (input saturation), the higher-order tracking differentiator (TDS) is introduced into the backstepping controller for reducing the number of derivations. It is shown that all error signals of the control system, employing Lyapunov stability theory, are uniformly ultimately bounded. Finally, the validity of the put forward scheme is validated by numerical simulations. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maritime Transportation System and Traffic Engineering)

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23 pages, 63468 KiB

Open AccessArticle

A Study on the Design of Coastal Fairway Width Based on a Risk Assessment Model in Korean Waterways

by Won-Sik Kang and Young-Soo Park

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(3), 1535; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12031535 - 31 Jan 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2587

Abstract

In this study, the appropriate fairway width was designed through the maritime traffic safety evaluation model. By applying the concept of L-converted traffic, it was found that the current maritime traffic volume is 5 to 20 ships per hour in the sea area near Gun-san Port. High-density sections were identified through density analysis based on maritime traffic volume, which ranged from 5 to 10 km, and sections with an area of 10 km or more were also analyzed. Considering the general traffic flow and density, it is necessary to set a route width of 10 km or more in the target sea area, as well as to design a minimum fairway width that ensures safety for all types of ocean use. In this study, four traffic flows were analyzed through machine learning and a comprehensive environmental stress model was created for the traffic flows. The amount of safety change according to the increase in traffic volume was compared and reviewed for a fairway width of 1 km to 10 km, which can be generally formed according to the characteristics of the sea area. In the assessment, we found that when the fairway width was 1–4 km and the L-converted traffic volume was 15 or more, the ES ≥ 750 value exceeded 10% of the total, thus creating a burden on the ship operators. In particular, it was found that the ES ≥ 750 value was 20% at most when the L-converted traffic volume was 20 or more. In a comprehensive analysis, the ES > 750 was found to be less than 10% when the fairway width was 6 km or more in the sea area with one crossing passage at 5 to 20 ships per hour, which was the experimental condition of this study, and the ship operator’s burden was determined to be insignificant. Based on these results, when designing routes between offshore wind farms that will be established in the future, we expect that it will be possible to design the minimum fairway width to ensure safety according to the traffic volume. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maritime Transportation System and Traffic Engineering)

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21 pages, 5960 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Research and Verification of Trajectory Tracking Control of a Quadrotor Carrying a Load

by Yunsheng Fan, Hongrun Guo, Xinjie Han and Xinyu Chen

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(3), 1036; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12031036 - 20 Jan 2022

Cited by 6 | Viewed by 1907

Abstract

This paper assumes that considering the unknown and time-varying nature of different strong and weak wind field disturbances and considering the nonlinear, under-driven, strongly coupled quadrotor carrying, a load is disturbed by the complex and variable wind field and unmodeled parts when flying in the real external environment, which will reduce the control effect of the nonlinear controller and make the vehicle fail to affect the flight effect. In order to ensure that the quadrotor carrying a load can carry supplies in the harsh environment for stable trajectory tracking, a neural network adaptive control algorithm is introduced in the article. The neural network algorithm has the role of online dynamic approximation, the compensation of arbitrary external disturbance and the compensation of external disturbance. Its structure is simple and low computation. In the article, the Lyapunov method is used to design the adaptive weight and estimate the weight of the online neural network, and the stability of the system is proved. Finally, the comparison of three algorithms verified by simulation proves that the above interference problem can be solved effectively by the proposed algorithm. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maritime Transportation System and Traffic Engineering)

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18 pages, 32026 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Design and Development of Maritime Data Security Management Platform

by Yunong Zhang, Anmin Zhang, Dianjun Zhang, Zhen Kang and Yi Liang

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(2), 800; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12020800 - 13 Jan 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 2660

Abstract

Since the e-Navigation strategy was put forward, various countries and regions in the world have researched e-Navigation test platforms. However, the sources of navigation data are multi-source, and there are still difficulties in the unified acquisition, processing, analysis and application of multi-source data. Users often find it difficult to obtain the required comprehensive navigation information. The purpose of this paper is to use e-Navigation architecture to design and develop maritime data security management platform, strengthen navigation safety guarantee, strengthen Marine environment monitoring, share navigation and safety information, improve the ability of shipping transportation organizations in ports, and protect the marine environment. Therefore, this paper proposes a four-layer system architecture based on Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition (J2EE) technology, and designs a unified maritime data storage, analysis and management platform, which realizes the intelligent, visualized and modular management of maritime data at shipside and the shore. This platform can provide comprehensive data resource services for ship navigation and support the analysis and mining of maritime big data. This paper expounds on the design, development scheme and demonstration operation scheme of the maritime data security management platform from the system structure and data exchange mode. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maritime Transportation System and Traffic Engineering)

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17 pages, 969 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Adaptive Neural Network Control of Zero-Speed Vessel Fin Stabilizer Based on Command Filter

by Ziteng Sun, Chao Chen and Guibing Zhu

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(2), 754; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12020754 - 12 Jan 2022

Cited by 4 | Viewed by 1676

Abstract

This paper proposes a zero-speed vessel fin stabilizer adaptive neural network control strategy based on a command filter for the problem of large-angle rolling motion caused by adverse sea conditions when a vessel is at low speed down to zero. In order to avoid the adverse effects of the high-frequency part of the marine environment on the vessel rolling control system, a command filter is introduced in the design of the controller and a command filter backstepping control method is designed. An auxiliary dynamic system (ADS) is constructed to correct the feedback error caused by input saturation. Considering that the system has unknown internal parameters and unmodeled dynamics, and is affected by unknown disturbances from the outside, the neural network technology and nonlinear disturbance observer are fused in the proposed design, which not only combines the advantages of the two but also overcomes the limitations of the single technique itself. Through Lyapunov theoretical analysis, the stability of the control system is proved. Finally, the simulation results also verify the effectiveness of the control method. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maritime Transportation System and Traffic Engineering)

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Review

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15 pages, 1531 KiB

Open AccessReview

Review of Probabilistic Risk Assessment Models for Ship Collisions with Structures

by Fangliang Xiao, Yong Ma and Bo Wu

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12(7), 3441; https://doi.org/10.3390/app12073441 - 28 Mar 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 2669

Abstract

Researchers have always been concerned about collision risks between ships and structures on busy waterways, as the consequences can be catastrophic. The models for determining the probabilities of these accidents, however, vary widely, with discrepancies between different model results in the same assessment. The models sometimes lack critical elements or are inherently flawed, and therefore do not represent reality. This paper aims to review the existing probabilistic risk models for ship and structure collisions. The advantages and disadvantages of each model are discussed, which leads to a better method for future model development. This paper reviews the existing literature for the probabilistic risk assessment (PRA) between nautical traffic and offshore infrastructures. This paper differentiates the existing models into three categories: statistics of collision rates, statistical models, and simulation models, as the models are evolving from statistical models to simulation models to derive more accurate results. The advantages and disadvantages of the statistical models were evaluated by comparing the details of the elements contributing to risk. Simulation models with virtual autonomous ships can better reflect the reality and include more risk elements than those described in the existing models. The cores of simulation models and the advantages of different models are elaborated and compared, thus supporting future work in this area. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Maritime Transportation System and Traffic Engineering)

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