Development and onboard assessment of drone for assistance in firefighting resource management and rescue operations

• This report provides comprehensive information for deciding whether to pursue the deployment of adrone system for increasing safety on ship. The assessments of technical and legal feasibility as wellas usefulness of a drone system for surveying the open decks of a ro-ro ship are presented. The usecases of fire patrol, fire resource management and search & rescue operations are targeted. Aprototype drone system is detailed that is built on open standards and open-source software for highextensibility and reproducibility. Technical feasibility is assessed positively overall using a purpose-designed drone-control software, in-field tests and a demonstration onboard of DFDS PetuniaSeaways. The needs for further development, analysis and long-term tests are described. The legalfeasibility assessment gives an overview of applicable maritime and airspace regulations within theEU. It concludes that the drone system should be seen complementary to existing fire safety systemsand that operational authorization is best applied for in collaboration with a ship owner. Usefulnessis assessed using responses from maritime experts to an online questionnaire on the targeted usecases. Results are positive with two major challenges identified: achieving a reasonable selling priceand obtaining the ship operators’ and crews’ trust in the system. Finally, a SWOT analysis gives aconcise summary of the performed assessments and can be used as input to the strategic businessplanning for a potential drone system provider.

Subject headings

TEKNIK OCH TEKNOLOGIER  -- Elektroteknik och elektronik -- Annan elektroteknik och elektronik (hsv//swe)

ENGINEERING AND TECHNOLOGY  -- Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering -- Other Electrical Engineering, Electronic Engineering, Information Engineering (hsv//eng)

Keyword

UAV

Drone

Maritime Safety

Fire Safety

Automation

Publication and Content Type

vet (subject category)

rap (subject category)