AVAL

AVAL - a technology that will significantly increase the safety of sea-going vessels

Project title

AVAL - Autonomous Vessel with an Air Look. Application research in the area of navigation, control, communication and data exchange technologies between an autonomous floating vessel and an aircraft

Name of Beneficiary/Beneficiaries

Consortium:

Białystok University of Technology - leader of the consortium
Foundation for Safety of Navigation and Environment Protection (Ship Handling Research and Training Center)
Sup4Nav sp. z o.o.
UpLogic sp. z o.o.

Name of programme

SMART GROWTH OPERATIONAL PROGRAMME

Competition

Application Projects

Project value

PLN 10 341 336,94

Funding value

PLN 9 272 030,51

Project delivery period

40 months starting from 1st June 2017

View the results of our work

The rectangular graphic shows in a schematic way the elements of the AVAL system, such as the management system and data exchange between AVAL components, negotiation system, anti-collision system, image processing system, unmanned aerial vehicle, etc. — Infographic depicting system AVAL

Tests of AVAL system components carried out at the Białystok University of Technology. In the center of the photo, you can see a drone rising above the meadow and a parking lot near the university campus

Tests of AVAL system components carried out at the Białystok University of Technology. In the photo, a man in a yellow protective vest is working on a drone in a meadow

Tests of AVAL system components carried out at the Białystok University of Technology. In the photo, the drone is flying very low over the university building — AVAL system component tests carried out at the Białystok University of Technology

Autonomous maritime navigation system tests in the ship management center in Iława

Tests of AVAL system components at sea. The photo shows a drone hovering above the sea

Tests of AVAL system components carried out at sea. The photo shows a drone hovering above the water shortly after taking off from the ship

What problem is addressed by the project?

Our goal is to increase the safety of shipping by improving the scope of recognizing potential threats. In the AVAL project, we accomplish this by carrying out industrial research and development works, the results of which will be applied to the technology of an autonomous sea-going vessel. The main element of the technology is an innovative maritime navigation system that uses - in addition to the navigation devices installed on the ship - data from video observation conducted by an unmanned aerial vehicle.
In order to identify threats, AVAL uses two types of drones: a tethered multirotor and a free-flying airframe. Both drones function automatically - they do not require operator control and can perform autonomous missions.

More information on our YouTube channel.

Who uses the project results?

As a result of the project, the AVAL technology will be developed, which will be used in the autonomous marine navigation system. AVAL navigation will be installed on sea-going vessels to increase their safety. Our clients will therefore be shipowners and shipyards around the world.