Four presentations by master's students were recently held at the NTNU Shore Control Lab, showcasing new ideas and technologies that could help shape the future of autonomous and remotely operated maritime systems. The projects involved more than four students in total.
The presentations were organized through the MIDAS project and brought together students, researchers and industry representatives to discuss emerging solutions for maritime autonomy, remote operations and human-machine interaction.
The student projects addressed different aspects of remote and autonomous vessel operations, ranging from fleet management and operator interfaces to route planning and haptic feedback systems.
Master's student Markus Lunde presented the project Designing a Graphical User Interface for Fleet Supervision of Autonomous and Remotely Operated Vessels. The project focused on how future maritime operators can effectively monitor multiple autonomous and remotely operated vessels from a shore control centre.
Lunde developed a functional prototype for the Shore Control Lab featuring both individual operator workstations and a shared operational display.
Rather than maximizing the amount of information shown, the design helps operators quickly identify which vessels require attention, understand events as they occur, and move seamlessly between fleet-level and vessel-level views while maintaining situational awareness.
Master's students Tomas Bønes Wedege and Andreas Ødegård presented Design and Construction of a Maritime Teledrive Station, which explored a key challenge in autonomous shipping: what happens when a human operator must take control of a vessel from shore.
The students designed and built a teledrive station that enables direct real-time vessel control.
Drawing on input from maritime experts, field studies, ergonomic evaluations and production considerations, the project demonstrated how situational awareness, ergonomics and practical manufacturability are closely connected when designing future shore control workstations.
Another master's project, presented by Johannes Østreborge Thorsen, examined how digital decision-support systems can help planners select more energy-efficient routes for hybrid service vessels in the aquaculture industry.
The project explored how weather conditions, charging opportunities, operational requirements, costs and emissions can be integrated into route planning tools.
Thorsen developed and tested two prototype interfaces with different levels of information and environmental feedback, highlighting how design choices can influence both decision-making speed and sustainability considerations.
Master's student Malin Hanssen presented Collaborative Autonomous Fleet Management, which investigated how future maritime operations centres can support operators responsible for multiple autonomous vessels, remotely operated vessels and sea drones simultaneously.
Using the Shore Control Lab as a case study, the project explored how people without traditional maritime backgrounds can collaborate to monitor and manage autonomous fleets.
The work resulted in design concepts and recommendations for interfaces, workflows and decision-support systems that can improve shared situational awareness, coordination and event handling in future shore control centres.
Bachelor students Adrian Ravn Håkonsen, Arnstein Lystad Johnsen, Mikael Kofoed and Romeo Henriksen alså presented the project Haptic Feedback for Remote Controlled Maritime Vessels, carried out at NTNU.
The project explored how tactile feedback can improve operators' perception of vessel movements and surroundings when controlling vessels remotely, potentially making remote operations safer and more intuitive.
Together, the projects demonstrate how multidisciplinary research spanning industrial design, cybernetics, human-machine interaction and decision-support systems is helping shape the next generation of maritime autonomy and shore control technologies.
A well-attended audience of researchers, students and industry professionals gathered at the Shore Control Lab to learn about and discuss the students' work.
Among those attending was Bård Eker, CEO of Eker Group and one of Norway's most recognized industrial designers and entrepreneurs.
Eker has spent decades developing advanced maritime and mobility solutions through Eker Group and has been involved in projects ranging from high-performance boats to electric ferries and autonomous systems.
For Eker, the student projects highlighted the importance of building competence for the next generation of maritime innovation.
"The most important thing is that we get more designers and developers who are interested in controlling maritime vessels, whether remotely or autonomously, and who can contribute to ensuring that Norway remains a strong maritime nation."
Eker noted that many of the concepts presented are highly relevant to ongoing developments in both commercial shipping and unmanned maritime systems.
"We have developed an electric ferry, and the idea of operating not just one ferry but several vessels from a shore control centre is becoming increasingly relevant. The work being done here is directly connected to that future."
He also pointed to growing demand for advanced remote operations in the unmanned surface vessel sector.
"We produce unmanned maritime systems for customers who operate them in different ways, including from shore. Some of our customers are in Ukraine, where there is a significant need for this kind of thinking and technology."
Investing in future innovators
While the student projects demonstrated practical solutions and technical innovations, Eker emphasized that their long-term value extends beyond the immediate results.
"The most important outcome of projects like these is not necessarily the physical result itself, but what these students may go on to create over the next 40 years," Eker adds.
The presentations at NTNU Shore Control Lab highlight the importance of collaboration between academia and industry in developing both the technologies and the talent needed for the future of autonomous maritime operations.
Through initiatives such as MIDAS and the Shore Control Lab, students gain the opportunity to work on real-world challenges at the forefront of maritime autonomy, while industry partners gain insight into the next generation of ideas and expertise.
Photos: Lars Bugge Aarset/Fremtidens Industri