Journal is indexed in following databases:
- SCOPUS
- Web of Science Core Collection - Journal Citation Reports
- EBSCOhost
- Directory of Open Access Journals
- TRID Database - Transportation Research Board
- Index Copernicus Journals Master List
- BazTech
- Google Scholar
2024 Journal Impact Factor - 0.6
2024 CiteScore - 1.9
ISSN 2083-6473
ISSN 2083-6481 (electronic version)
Editor-in-Chief
Associate Editor
Prof. Tomasz Neumann
Published by
TransNav, Faculty of Navigation
Gdynia Maritime University
3, John Paul II Avenue
81-345 Gdynia, POLAND
e-mail transnav@umg.edu.pl
Mixed Reality Testing for Maritime Vessels: Integrating Simulation and Physical Vessels for System Verification
1 German Aerospace Center (DLR), Oldenburg, Germany
ABSTRACT: Testing autonomous or highly automated navigation and control systems in the maritime domain, especially in near-collision scenarios, poses safety challenges. While conventional testing methods offer an approach for testing, they are limited in their ability to safely evaluate behaviour in critical situations. To address this problem the paper presents a mixed reality testing architecture designed to enhance the safety by enabling bidirectional interaction between virtual and physical elements. Using this architecture, tests can be carried out without endangering the crew and the vessel. The architecture presented in this paper is evaluated by testing a collision avoidance functionality from an autonomous track control system. The System under Test was evaluated in collision scenarios with simulated traffic showcasing its limitations. Overall, the paper demonstrates that mixed reality testing can enhance safety and efficiency of maritime system validation and provides a base for future work involving complex scenarios or multiple traffic participants.
KEYWORDS:
REFERENCES
I. Porres, S. Azimi, and J. Lilius, “Scenario-based Testing of a Ship Collision Avoidance System,” in 2020 46th Euromicro Conference on Software Engineering and Advanced Applications (SEAA), Portoroz, Slovenia: IEEE, Aug. 2020, pp. 545–552. doi: 10.1109/SEAA51224.2020.00090.
American Bureau of Shipping, “Requirements for Autonomous and Remote Control Functions.” 2022.
DNV AS, Ed., “Autonomous and remotely operated vessels.” 2024.
A. Akkermann and A. Hahn, “Comparing Simulation with Physical Verification and Validation in a Maritime Test Field,” in International Journal of Systems Engineering, in No. 2, vol. Vol. 4. Science Publishing Group, 2020. [Online]. Available: http://www.sciencepublishinggroup.com/journal/index?journalid=521
L. P. Perera, “Deep Learning towards Autonomous Ship Navigation and Possible COLREGs Failures,” Journal of Offshore Mechanics and Arctic Engineering, 2019.
Y. Dai, Y. He, X. Zhao, and K. Xu, “Testing method of autonomous navigation systems for ships based on virtual-reality integration scenarios,” Ocean Engineering, vol. 309, p. 118597, Oct. 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2024.118597.
H. Zhou et al., “Virtual Reality Fusion Testing-Based Autonomous Collision Avoidance of Ships in Open Water: Methods and Practices,” JMSE, vol. 12, no. 12, p. 2181, Nov. 2024, doi: 10.3390/jmse12122181.
S. Ulbrich, T. Menzel, A. Reschka, F. Schuldt, and M. Maurer, “Defining and Substantiating the Terms Scene, Situation, and Scenario for Automated Driving,” in 2015 IEEE 18th International Conference on Intelligent Transportation Systems, Gran Canaria, Spain: IEEE, Sept. 2015, pp. 982–988. doi: 10.1109/ITSC.2015.164.
M. Speicher, B. D. Hall, and M. Nebeling, “What is Mixed Reality?,” in Proceedings of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems, Glasgow Scotland Uk: ACM, May 2019, pp. 1–15. doi: 10.1145/3290605.3300767.
P. Milgram and F. Kishino, “A Taxonomy of Mixed Reality Visual Displays,” IEICE Transactions on Information and Systems, vol. 77, pp. 1321–1329, 1994.
A. Ujkani, P. Hohnrath, R. Grundmann, and H.-C. Burmeister, “Enhancing Maritime Navigation with Mixed Reality: Assessing Remote Pilotage Concepts and Technologies by In Situ Testing,” JMSE, vol. 12, no. 7, p. 1084, June 2024, doi: 10.3390/jmse12071084.
Má. Lager, E. A. Topp, and J. Malec, “VR Teleoperation to support a GPS-free Positioning System in a Marine Environment,” TransNav, vol. 14, no. 4, pp. 789–798, 2020, doi: 10.12716/1001.14.04.01.
S. Solmaz, M. Rudigier, and M. Mischinger, “A Vehicle-in-the-Loop Methodology for Evaluating Automated Driving Functions in Virtual Traffic,” in 2020 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium (IV), Las Vegas, NV, USA: IEEE, Oct. 2020, pp. 1465–1471. doi: 10.1109/IV47402.2020.9304811.
M. Szalai, B. Varga, T. Tettamanti, and V. Tihanyi, “Mixed reality test environment for autonomous cars using Unity 3D and SUMO,” in 2020 IEEE 18th World Symposium on Applied Machine Intelligence and Informatics (SAMI), Herlany, Slovakia: IEEE, Jan. 2020, pp. 73–78. doi: 10.1109/SAMI48414.2020.9108745.
Y. Chen, S. Chen, T. Xiao, S. Zhang, Q. Hou, and N. Zheng, “Mixed Test Environment-based Vehicle-in-the-loop Validation - A New Testing Approach for Autonomous Vehicles,” in 2020 IEEE Intelligent Vehicles Symposium (IV), Las Vegas, NV, USA: IEEE, Oct. 2020, pp. 1283–1289. doi: 10.1109/IV47402.2020.9304658.
H. Tae, S. Yeo, S. Hwang, S. Park, and G. Hwang, “System-in-the-Loop Test System With Mixed-Reality for Autonomous Ground Vehicle (AGV) and Military Applications,” IEEE Access, vol. 13, pp. 46383–46394, 2025, doi: 10.1109/ACCESS.2025.3549372.
H. Zhang et al., “A Digital Twin of the Research Vessel Gunnerus for Lifecycle Services: Outlining Key Technologies,” IEEE Robot. Automat. Mag., vol. 30, no. 3, pp. 6–19, Sept. 2023, doi: 10.1109/MRA.2022.3217745.
X. Han, H. Liu, and Y. Fan, “Research on Testing and Evaluation of USV Autonomous Navigation Algorithms Based on Virtual Reality Fusion,” in 2022 41st Chinese Control Conference (CCC), Hefei, China: IEEE, July 2022, pp. 4329–4336. doi: 10.23919/CCC55666.2022.9902229.
M. Brinkmann, M. Abdelaal, and A. Hahn, “Vessel-in-the-Loop Architecture for Testing Highly Automated Maritime Systems,” in Proceedings of the 17th Conference on Computer and IT Applications in the Maritime Industries (COMPIT), 2018.
J. A. Piotrowski, C. Steger, and A. Hahn, “Open testbed vessel—Reusable and generic test carrier architecture for maritime testbeds,” Ocean Engineering, vol. 325, p. 120747, May 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.oceaneng.2025.120747.
“ITU-R M.1371-5 - Technical characteristics for an automatic identification system using time division multiple access in the VHF maritime mobile frequency band.” 2014. [Online]. Available: https://www.itu.int/dms_pubrec/itu-r/rec/m/R-REC-M.1371-5-201402-I!!PDF-E.pdf
National Marine Electronics Association, “NMEA 0183 - Standard For Interfacing Marine Electronic Devices.” 2018.
NATIONAL MARINE ELECTRONICS ASSOCIATION, “NMEA2000 - STANDARD FOR SERIAL-DATA NETWORKING OF MARINE ELECTRONIC DEVICES - Main Document,” Version 2.000, 2014.
N. Rüssmeier, A. Lamm, and A. Hahn, “A generic testbed for simulation and physical-based testing of maritime cyber-physical system of systems,” J. Phys.: Conf. Ser., vol. 1357, no. 1, p. 012025, Oct. 2019, doi: 10.1088/1742-6596/1357/1/012025.
“Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea, 1972 - Consolidated edition, 2018.” 2018.
Citation note:
Piotrowski J.A., Bokern A., Steidel M.: Mixed Reality Testing for Maritime Vessels: Integrating Simulation and Physical Vessels for System Verification. TransNav, the International Journal on Marine Navigation and Safety of Sea Transportation, Vol. 19, No. 4, doi:10.12716/1001.19.04.22, pp. 1237-1245, 2025
Other publications of authors:
File downloaded 3 times
