North Star: Data-Driven Sailing for an Efficient and Safe Passage in the Arctic Ocean

• Main Authors: Breda, Paola, Caayon, Arthur Kho, Vadas, Avin, Abdin, Adam F.
• Other Authors: HyImpulse Technologies GmbH, Neuenstadt am Kocher, Germany, Movial, Helsinki, Finland, Freelancer Product Designer, Lisbon, Portugal, Laboratoire Génie Industriel (LGI), CentraleSupélec-Université Paris-Saclay, European Commission, EC
• Format: Conference Object
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2022
• Subjects: Arctic Ocean; Artificial Intelligence; Copernicus Services; Maritime Navigation; Sensor Fusion; Tourism; [SPI]Engineering Sciences [physics]; Arctic; North Star; The Sentinel; Iceberg*
• Online Access: https://hal.science/hal-04318106

International audience Maritime navigation in the Arctic Ocean is fraught with danger such as strong atmospheric electromagnetic interference, adverse weather conditions, unreliable satellite signal and coverage. A vessel not knowing its position while navigating in the Arctic may find itself in a critical situation. In the framework of the 2nd CASSINI Hackathon aimed to promote ideas based on safe passage in the Arctic, the authors developed a product called North Star. The aim of North Star is using Earth Observation data provided by Galileo and Copernicus services to improve navigation in the Arctic. It consists of an on-board neural engine, the AI Pilot, which searches for and identifies a safe route for the user. The neural engine can be trained on the Copernicus data from the Sentinel constellation, which includes information such as ice thickness, iceberg distribution, wind speed direction, and wave height for a specific passage. In the event of a satellite signal loss, the AI Pilot reuses the information received from Galileo up to that point and integrates them with the vessel's own maritime sensors to maintain the viability of the projected route. The idea behind the AI Pilot is that when a vessel is within communication range with other North Star vessels, they form an ad-hoc mesh network of data collectors with edge computing capabilities. The creation of a mesh network can provide augmented data to the entire GNSS ecosystem. While shipping transportation of oil and gas across the Arctic passages undergoes more strict regulations, private tourism and charter yacht operators in the Arctic are an emerging market due to the relatively unsafe travel conditions. North Star can have a beneficial impact on the tourist sector in the first place, extending afterwards to support Search and Rescue operations, as well as contributing to the protection of the environment and the Arctic fauna. This research presents the concept of operations of North Star, as well as its high-level description from the technical ...