Remote Operation of Unmanned Surface Vessel through Virtual Reality

An unmanned ship can be designed without considering human
comfort, and can thus be constructed lighter, smaller and less expensive.
It can carry out missions in rough terrain or be in areas
where it would be dangerous for a human to operate. By not having
to support a crew, lengthy missions can be accepted, enabling, e.g.
reconnaissance missions, or reducing emissions by lowering the
speed.
Breakthroughs with autonomous systems enable more advanced
unmanned surface vessels (USVs), but to be able to handle complex
missions in a dynamic environment, a human operator is still
assumed an effective decision maker. Thus, we propose a method
for remote operation of a USV, where the operator uses Virtual
Reality (VR) to comprehend the surrounding environment. Great
importance has been given to the ability to perform safe navigation,
by designing a Graphical User Interface (GUI) that guides the operator
through the navigation process, by presenting the important
information at the right place in the right orientation.