Rolls Royce, Finnish VTT Partnership To Design First Generation Remote And Autonomous Ships

Rolls-Royce and VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland have announced a strategic partnership to design, test and validate the first generation of remote and autonomous ships.

Rolls-Royce is developing remote controlled and autonomous ships and believes a remote controlled ship will be in commercial use by the end of the decade, the company said in a statement Monday.

VTT will combine physical tests such as model and tank testing, with digital technologies, such as data analytics and computer visualisation. They will also use field research to incorporate human factors into safe ship design.

Working with VTT will allow Rolls-Royce to assess the performance of remote and autonomous designs through the use of both traditional model tank tests and digital simulation, allowing the company to develop functional, safe and reliable prototypes.

Karno Tenovuo, Rolls-Royce, Vice President Ship Intelligence, said: “Remotely operated ships are a key development project for Rolls-Royce Marine. This collaboration is a continuation of the earlier User Experience for Complex systems (UXUS) project, where we developed totally new bridge and remote control systems for shipping.”