The Port of Vancouver is the largest port in Canada and the fourth largest in North America by tonnes of cargo. The process of transporting bulk materials across the ocean often involves ship loaders depositing onto bulk carriers. A ship loader is a large machine on the port that uses a boom arm to dispense materials such as coal, iron ore, bauxite, and alumina onto the carriers.
Given the large size of the ship-loader there are many blind spots around the vessel which can lead to collisions that threaten personnel, damage valuable assets, and limit operations.
These collisions can be avoided, as they are often caused by the operator having low visibility. Cameras are used as a solution to solve this problem, but they also face limitations. For instance, cameras lack the ability to gauge distance accurately and are susceptible to interference from surrounding light conditions, leading to unreliable data. Consequently, collision avoidance systems often rely on human judgement.
Several companies have attempted to enhance their anti-collision solutions by integrating radar, 2D lidar, or low-resolution 3D lidar. However, each of these sensor technologies comes with its own limitations. Radar, for instance, suffers from low accuracy, while 2D or low-resolution 3D lidar offers limited resolution and a narrow field of view. Consequently, considerable time and additional sensors are required to thoroughly scan and generate a dependable map of the surroundings.
These legacy systems will struggle to address future challenges.
MRA's Ship Loader to Vessel Anti-Collision System (ACS) and accompanying modules offer a comprehensive solution for safeguarding ship loading operations, enhancing personnel safety, and mitigating accidents that could disrupt operational flow.
The ACS utilises advanced technology to construct a precise 3D map of the vessel using millions of data points collected from scanners installed on the ship loader. These scanners, featuring durable, cost-effective LiDAR technology, are well-suited for the demanding environmental conditions often encountered during ship loading operations.
The MRA-QCA system employs Ouster sensors installed on the ship loader to create a real-time 3D model of the loader and the vessel alongside the wharf. This model is continuously updated in real-time as the ship loader and the ships’ position changes.
The ACS can accurately calculate the clearance between the ship loader and the vessel, considering their complex shapes and distances. This information is communicated to the control system, enabling automatic adjustments to the ship loader's speed and trajectory as it approaches the vessel.
Moreover, environmental factors such as sea swell, tide, and vessel wake pose additional challenges. Leveraging the 3D mapping capabilities of Ouster LiDAR, MRA's ACS system is compatible with various vessel classes, bridge configurations, and hatch types, across different harbour and open port environments. The system's reliability has been validated under diverse weather conditions, including heavy rain, snow, fog, and dusty environments.
MRA's Ship Loader to Vessel Anti-Collision System (ACS) eliminated the risk of the operator colliding with the vessel, reducing machine downtime and increasing asset integrity.
The ACS also allows for greater throughput by giving the operator confidence when manoeuvring in a small hatch, being able to relocate at full speed knowing that there is a protection system in place to avoid a collision.
The system's reliability has been validated under diverse loading and weather conditions, including heavy rain, snow, fog, and dusty environments by having a recorded bypass time of less than 0.6% since going live in 2021.
“The MRA-QCA system uses millions of data points from Ouster sensors installed on the ship loader to build a 3D map of the loader and vessel alongside the wharf. The model is created and updated in real-time as the ship loader changes position. Overlapping data points and perspectives create a highly accurate and reliable model with the distance of each machine part to the vessel continuously calculated as well.”
Ouster, Inc.