MBZIRC Maritime Grand Challenge: Making robots collaborate for a purpose
For countries with long coastlines, ensuring maritime safety can be additionally challenging as it requires significant investment in equipment and trained personnel. The MBZIRC Maritime Grand Challenge is looking to change that and develop innovative solutions to some of the shipping industry’s biggest challenges.
We have chosen to focus on maritime security solutions because the shipping industry is the engine of the global economy, with about 90% of traded goods transported by ships.
Without maritime security, the open seas would look more like the Wild West
Without maritime security, the open seas would look more like the Wild West. Global economies would be handicapped, workers would be unable to do their jobs, livelihoods of those reliant on fishing will be jeopardised and the shipping industry would be chronically unable to operate at full capacity.
Robotics-based industries will play a key role in the future knowledge-based economy of the UAE. The event aims to foster technological innovation and inspire the next generation of scientists in the UAE.
Robotics-based industries will play a key role in the future knowledge-based economy of the UAE
By providing an environment to foster innovation and technical excellence in robotics, MBZIRC also supports the UAE’s transition to a knowledge economy, while consolidating Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s position as an emerging hub of innovation in advanced technology.
Technology overview
In terms of autonomous technologies, the current available solutions still have a high dependency on the operator being in the loop, for example in providing the location, normally in terms of GPS coordinates, for a search and rescue mission.
The MBZIRC Maritime Grand Challenge tries to go beyond this scenario by asking a group of robots to work in a collaborative manner in a search and rescue operation, with minimal intervention from the operator.
The current available solutions still have a high dependency on the operator being in the loop
The scenario is made even more challenging when considering the Global Navigation Satellite System-denied operational demand. For example, the control and coordination of single and multi-UAV groups without Global Navigation Satellite System is today still subject of active academic research, as at many levels of the control stack the Global Navigation Satellite System input is used to close the control loop, even just to stabilize UAV in the air.
An example of this would be to use vision-based navigation. The Challenge will test the readiness of these technologies still in the research phase within a real-world situation.
Benefits of The Challenge
The objective of autonomous technologies is to make lives easier, safer, and more efficient. The MBZIRC Maritime Grand Challenge will look to advance autonomous capabilities and close the gap between what we can currently do and what we hope to achieve. In particular, the convergence of autonomy, advanced robotics systems, Global Navigation Satellite System-denied navigation and edge processing as they come together.
The Challenge will test readiness of technologies still in the research phase within a real-world situation
The MBZIRC Maritime Grand Challenge, which involves heterogeneous collaboration between unmanned aerial and surface vehicles, requiring them to perform complex navigation, identification, and manipulation tasks in a Global Navigation Satellite System-denied environment, should create the perfect environment for technological advancement in this space.
Such innovation can not only help reduce operational costs through enhanced speed and efficiency, but also effectively handle some of the often-dangerous tasks performed by humans minimizing the risk to life.
The MBZIRC Maritime Grand Challenge is focused on search and identify in the civilian arena. We are hoping to find real-world solutions to maritime safety and security issues such as illegal fishing, smuggling, and piracy. We envisage the solutions developed to be used for autonomous identification and low-level interception like collecting boat registration papers, fishing licences and looking for contraband.
Autonomy, advanced robotics systems, Global Navigation Satellite System-denied, edge processing as they come together
Looking further into the future, we envisage the MBZIRC Maritime Grand Challenge will lay the foundations for additional research in the area and build towards developing fully autonomous search and rescue capabilities but that’s still some way off.
Whilst the focus, for now, is the maritime environment, the winning technology will have a much broader application across multiple sectors facing similar issues.
This is where innovation comes into its own. The smart deployment of technology has made seemingly insurmountable challenges achievable, enhancing all kinds of safety and security.
Generating IP
Talent attracts talent and this part of the world is brimming with the brightest minds with many more flocking to come and be a part of something very, very exciting. The amount of IP being created here in the region is astounding – the MBZIRC Maritime Grand Challenge is a great example of this.
The Grand Challenge requires unmanned aerial and surface vehicles, to perform complex navigation tasks
However, ASPIRE will not take over ownership rights in the IP created by the teams as part of the challenge. Any IP created will remain owned by the teams. The entire ethos of the Challenge is about partnership and collaboration. In the future, we hope to partner and collaborate with those teams and together help solve the maritime industry’s biggest challenges.
Whilst each team will own the intellectual property of the technology they create, by accepting the prize, they will grant ASPIRE a non-exclusive, sub-licensable, perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide license to use the IP. The reason for this is we want to ensure the best solutions make it out of the test arena and into the real world. We want to play a key role in bringing them to life and help to address these real-life maritime problems for benefit of everyone.
The solutions developed will be used for autonomous identification and low-level interception
We also received feedback from some registered teams the lead time is too short, they actually want longer to work on their solutions!
This is a very complex challenge, therefore, the solutions created will need to be equally sophisticated to complete it and that takes time to plan and build. Whilst individual tasks such as swarm communication or mobile manipulation have been done in the lab before, the way we are bringing it all together, and in the real world, is a first. These solutions will not be built overnight.
