The problem of cooperative divergence of uncrewed vessels

Abstract

The article deals with the problem of preventing ship collisions while at sea. When crewless ships meet at sea, it is necessary to ensure their safe separation. A formalization of setting the problem of safe divergence of a group of ships is given. Vessel subsets in various states in a group of ships are determined, and ship transitions from one state to another are described. The problem of a lack of mutual understanding between agents controlling unaccompanied ships is considered. A counter vessel may not perform the divergence manoeuvres that the agent controlling the uncrewed vessel expects. An analysis is made of the reasons contributing to this. The problem of detection of inadequate behaviour of a counter vessel or its violation of manoeuvring arrangements is offered. The criteria for detecting such behaviour and agent's actions to prevent collision in this case are considered.