WO2018150095A1

WO2018150095A1 - Remote operation centre for monitoring a vessel

Info

Publication number: WO2018150095A1
Application number: PCT/FI2018/050109
Authority: WO
Inventors: Sauli SIPILÄ; Maria KUOSA
Original assignee: Rolls Royce Oy AB
Current assignee: Kongsberg Maritime Finland Oy
Priority date: 2017-02-15
Filing date: 2018-02-15
Publication date: 2018-08-23
Anticipated expiration: 2019-08-15
Also published as: FI20175132A7; FI128381B; FI20175132L

Abstract

A remote operation centre (1) for monitoring a vessel is presented. The remote operation centre (1) comprises one or more sets of lights (6, 7) secured to a surface (2) thereof. The remote operation centre (1) further comprises a driving circuit (8) configured to control the one or more sets of lights (6, 7), individually or in groups, in terms of one or more of brightness, colour and temperature based at least on one of a movement signal and one or more thrust signals indicative of a movement of the vessel and a current power state of corresponding one or more thrusters in the vessel, respectively.

Description

REMOTE OPERATION CENTRE FOR MONITORING A VESSEL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present disclosure relates to a remote operation centre for monitoring a vessel, or more particularly for simulating one or more operational conditions of the vessel.

BACKGROUND

Unmanned marine vessels are vessels that sail at sea without any crew on-board. Such vessels can be con^¬ trolled remotely by a human or autonomously in order to replace human operators on-board with automation technologies. However, the operation of these vessels may require human intervention in certain situations. The unmanned marine vessels are controlled by human operators working at a remote operation centre which is usually located on shore. In order to enable this, a variety of sensors and cameras are arranged at the marine vessel to detect and observe the ship status, operation of the various systems of the marine vessel, fault situations, the behaviour of the marine vessel and its cargo, motions of the marine vessel, the envi^¬ ronment of the marine vessel, waves, weather condi- tions, other sea traffic for avoidance of collisions etc. An amount of this kind of information is then gathered, processed and transferred to the remote op^¬ eration centre wherein the operator can remotely monitor and control the marine vessel and solve possible fault conditions.

It is desired that the operator can have as good as possible situational awareness of the vessel in order to enable good decision-making. It is desirable that the remote operation centre may be able to simulate an environment on-board the vessel in order to provide the operator with a deeper and more immersive experience of controlling the vessel. Particularly, it is desirable that the remote operation centre may be able to create ambient conditions therein to inform the hu- man operator instinctively or sub-consciously about the operational conditions of the vessel.

OBJECTIVE OF THE DISCLOSURE

It is an objective of the present disclosure to pro- vide a remote operation centre for monitoring an unmanned marine vessel.

It is also an objective of the present disclosure in which the remote operation centre can simulate a move- ment of the unmanned marine vessel in a particular di^¬ rection .

It is also an objective of the present disclosure in which the remote operation centre can simulate a power state of the one or more thrusters of the unmanned ma^¬ rine vessel.

SUMMARY

According to a first aspect, a remote operation centre is provided for monitoring a vessel. The remote opera^¬ tion centre comprises one or more sets of lights se^¬ cured to a surface thereof, and a driving circuit con^¬ figured to control the one or more sets of lights, in^¬ dividually or in groups, in terms of one or more of brightness, colour and temperature based at least on one of a movement signal and one or more thrust sig^¬ nals indicative of a movement of the vessel and a cur^¬ rent power state of corresponding one or more thrust^¬ ers in the vessel, respectively.

In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the surface, to which the one or more sets of lights are secured, comprises a floor of the remote operation cen^¬ tre .

In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the remote operation centre comprises an operator chair fixed to the floor, the operator chair being positioned lying on a symmetry axis therein.

In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the remote operation centre further comprises a display arrangement arranged as a vertical half-cylinder for^¬ mation to provide a 180-degrees panoramic view for an operator sitting in the operator chair in relation to the symmetry axis, the one or more sets of lights ex- tending to the display arrangement.

In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the one or more sets of lights comprise a first set of lights and a second set of lights.

In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the first set of lights comprises one or more strips of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) , each of the strip of LEDs comprises a plurality of individual LED lights.

In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the one or more strips of LEDs are laid running substan^¬ tially parallel to the symmetry axis. In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the first set of lights defines an array of individual LED lights arranged in a manner such that the operator chair is located either at or between a geometric centre of the said array and a back edge of the said ar- ray. In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the driving circuit is configured to switch ON consecutive individual LED lights in the one or more strips of LEDs along a first direction, based on the movement signal indicative of the movement of the vessel in a forward direction thereof.

In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the driving circuit is configured to switch ON consecutive individual LED lights in the one or more strips of LEDs along a second direction opposite to the first direction, based on the movement signal indicative of the movement of the vessel in a backward direction thereof .

In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the driving circuit is configured to optionally and simul^¬ taneously switch OFF preceding individual LED lights in the same one or more strips of LEDs.

In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the driving circuit is configured to incrementally in^¬ crease or decrease the brightness of consecutive indi^¬ vidual LED lights in the one or more strips of LEDs along a first direction, based on the movement signal indicative of the movement of the vessel in a forward direction or a backward direction thereof, respective- ly. In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the driving circuit is configured to incrementally in^¬ crease or decrease the temperature of consecutive in^¬ dividual LED lights in the one or more strips of LEDs along a first direction, based on the movement signal indicative of the movement of the vessel in a forward direction or a backward direction thereof, respective- ly. In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the driving circuit is configured to selectively change colour of the individual LED lights in the one or more strips of LEDs, based on the movement signal indica^¬ tive of the movement of the vessel in a forward direc^¬ tion or a backward direction thereof.

In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the second set of lights comprises one or more strips of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) , each of the strip of LEDs comprises a plurality of individual LED lights.

In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the one or more strips of LEDs are laid running parallel to the symmetry axis.

In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the second set of lights comprise a first array of indi- vidual LED lights and a second array of individual LED lights, each of the first array and the second array located next to a left side and a right side of the array of the first set of lights, respectively. In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, a density of individual LED lights in the first array and the second array of the second set of lights is relatively higher compared to a density of array of individual LED lights in the first set of lights.

In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the driver circuit is configured to control the first ar^¬ ray and the second array of the second set of lights corresponding to a first thruster and a second thrust- er of the vessel, respectively. In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the driving circuit is configured to discretely increase or decrease one of brightness and temperature of the individual LED lights in the one or more strips of LEDs based on the one or more thrust signals indica^¬ tive of the current power state of the one or more thrusters being higher or lower than a normal power state of the one or more thrusters for current opera^¬ tion of the vessel.

In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the driving circuit is configured to change colour of the one or more strips of LEDs based on the one or more thrust signals indicative of the current power state of the one or more thrusters being higher or lower than a normal power state of the one or more thrusters for current operation of the vessel.

In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the driving circuit is configured to control the one or more sets of lights based on a current illumination state of the remote operation centre.

In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the driving circuit is configured to control the overall illumination of the remote operation centre to resemble that of a navigation bridge on the vessel.

In one embodiment of the remote operation centre, the driving circuit is configured to control the one or more sets of lights based on predefined operator' s preferences .

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to pro^¬ vide a further understanding of the disclosure and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of a remote operation centre (ROC) and to^¬ gether with the description help to explain the principles thereof. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is an axonometric view of the remote operation centre according to one embodiment of the disclosure,

FIG. 2 is a plan view from above of the remote opera- tion centre of FIG. 1,

FIG. 3 is a back view in the direction III-III of FIG. 2 , and FIG. 4 is a schematic view of the remote operation centre of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description, for purposes of explana- tion, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present disclosure. It will be apparent, however, to one skilled in the art that the present disclosure can be practiced without these specific details. In other in- stances, apparatuses and methods are shown in block diagram form only in order to avoid obscuring the present disclosure.

Reference in this specification to "one embodiment" or "an embodiment" means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with the embodiment is included in at least one embod^¬ iment of the present disclosure. The appearance of the phrase "in one embodiment" in various places in the specification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment, nor are separate or alternative em^¬ bodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, various features are described which may be exhibited by some embodiments and not by others. Simi- larly, various requirements are described which may be requirements for some embodiments but not for other embodiments .

Moreover, although the following description contains many specifics for the purposes of illustration, any^¬ one skilled in the art will appreciate that many vari^¬ ations and/or alterations to said details are within the scope of the present disclosure. Similarly, alt^¬ hough many of the features of the present disclosure are described in terms of each other, or in conjunc^¬ tion with each other, one skilled in the art will appreciate that many of these features can be provided independently of other features. Accordingly, this de^¬ scription of the present disclosure is set forth with- out any loss of generality to, and without imposing limitations upon, the present disclosure.

FIGS. 1 to 4 show a remote operation centre 1 for re^¬ mote monitoring of vessels (not shown) . For the pur- pose of the present disclosure, the vessel, as defined herein, may generally include a marine vessel (e.g. ship or submarine) . However, in other cases, the ves^¬ sel may be an aircraft (airplane or spaceship) , a land-based vehicle (e.g. car or tank) or any other type of vessel configured to move by a propulsion source. The vessel may be an unmanned marine vessel, i.e. the vessel may be autonomous or have an auto^¬ pilot feature. It may be understood that the remote operation centre 1 is located remotely to the vessel on a shore or the like, sometimes hundreds or thou^¬ sands of miles away. In other examples, the remote op- eration centre 1 may be located on a deck or some oth^¬ er location in the vessel itself without departing from the scope of the present disclosure. The vessel may comprise a sensing arrangement associ^¬ ated therewith. In particular, the sensing arrangement is associated with the one or more thrusters in the vessel. The sensing arrangement comprises one or more sensors to detect a direction of movement of the ves- sel on a real-time basis. The sensing arrangement fur^¬ ther comprises one or more sensors to independently detect a current power state of one or more thrusters in the vessel, where the one or more thrusters provide the propulsive force for movement and change of direc- tion of the vessel. The sensing arrangement is config^¬ ured to generate a movement signal indicative of a re^¬ al-time movement of the vessel and one or more thrust signals indicative of a current power state of corre^¬ sponding one or more thrusters in the vessel. The movement signal may further be indicative of a speed of the movement of the vessel. In one example, the vessel comprises a first thruster and a second thrust- er. Correspondingly, the sensing arrangement may generate two thrust signals, namely, a first thrust sig- nal indicative of the current power state of the first thruster and a second thrust signal indicative of the current power state of the second thruster.

In one example, the said one or more sensors are radar sensors. However, in other examples of the sensing arrangement, the one or more sensors may take the form of types of sensors such as, microwave or ultrasonic sensors. The functioning of the sensors, in the sens^¬ ing arrangement, for determining operational condi- tions of the vessel, like the direction and change in direction of movement of the vessel, and the current power state of the thrusters in the vessel is well known, and thus have not been described herein for the brevity of the disclosure.

The vessel may also comprise a transmission unit asso- ciated with the sensing arrangement. The transmission unit is configured to transmit, in a real-time basis, the generated signals, namely the movement signal and the one or more thrust signals to the remote operation centre 1. The transmission unit is configured to transmit the movement signal and the one or more thrust signals to the remote operation centre 1 via multi-mode wireless communication means, such as the use of satellites providing wireless channels imple^¬ menting communication standards like GPRS, CDMA, 3G, 4G, to ensure the timeliness and reliability of data transmission .

In the illustrated embodiment, the remote operation centre 1 is designed in consideration of one operator. As can be seen in FIGS. 1 to 3, the remote operation centre 1 comprises multiple surfaces, including a floor 2. Hereinafter, the terms "surface" and "floor" have been interchangeably used without any limita^¬ tions. The remote operation centre 1 further comprises an operator chair 3. The operator chair 3 is fixed to the floor 2. The remote operation centre 1 also com^¬ prises a display arrangement 4. The operator chair 3 may be arranged to face towards the display arrange^¬ ment 4. In one example, the display arrangement 4 may be configured as a vertical half-cylinder formation to provide a 180-degrees panoramic view for the operator sitting in the operator chair 3. In one example, as illustrated, the display arrangement 4 may comprise a plurality of flat displays 5 arranged in the half- cylinder formation. The operator chair 3 may be arranged symmetrically in relation to a vertical sym^¬ metry axis A of the display arrangement 4, i.e. the centre of the radius of the half-cylinder formation of the main display arrangement 4 lies on the symmetry axis A. As illustrated in FIGS. 1 to 4, the remote operation centre 1 comprises one or more sets of lights. In one embodiment, the one or more sets of lights comprise a first set of lights (generally labelled as 6) and a second set of lights (generally labelled as 7) . Dif- ferent sets of lights may be used to simulate different operational conditions of the vessel. In one example, each of the first set of lights 6 and the second set of lights 7 comprises one or more strips of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) . For the sake of this discus- sion, only one strip of LEDs from each of the first set of lights 6 and the second set of lights 7 has been considered; for example, the first set of lights 6 comprises a strip of LEDs 6a and the second set of lights 7 comprises a strip of LEDs 7a. However, it may be understood that the first set of lights 6 may com^¬ prise other strips of LEDs, namely 6b, 6c, 6n; and the second set of lights 7 may comprise other strips of LEDs, namely 7b, 7c, 7n (not labelled in some of the figures for clarity) .

It is to be noted that the described functionality and properties of the strip of LEDs 6a, from the first set of lights 6, and the strip of LEDs 7a, from the second set of lights 7, may be applicable to all other strips of LEDs in the corresponding sets. In the illustra^¬ tions, the strips of LEDs 6a have been shown with cir^¬ cular LED lights therein and the strips of LEDs 7a have been shown with square LED lights therein in order to distinguish between the two for the perusal of the reader. However, it may be contemplated that the strip of LEDs 6a, from the first set of lights 6, and the strip of LEDs 7a, from the second set of lights 7, may have same functional properties for the purpose of the present disclosure.

In an embodiment, as illustrated, each of the strip of LEDs 6a and 7a comprise a plurality of individual LED lights. For example, the strip of LEDs 6a comprises individual LED lights 6al, 6a2, , 6aN; and similar^¬ ly, the strip of LEDs 7a comprises individual LED lights 7al, 7a2, , 7aN, where N is a counting num- ber. The number of individual LED lights in each of the strips 6a and 7a may be primarily dependent on the proper number of lights required for creating corresponding simulation using the strip, but may also be affected by various factors including, but not limited to, axial length of the floor 2, density limit of LEDs in a strip (number of LEDs per unit length), etc. In one example, the density of individual LED lights in a strip of LEDs is preferably about 120 LEDs per meter. The strips of LEDs, implemented in the present remote operation centre 1, may be programmable to inde^¬ pendently regulate the colour, brightness and/or tem^¬ perature of individual LED lights therein.

In particular, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the first set of lights 6 defines a central array 6A of individual LED lights such that the operator chair 3 is located either at or between a geometric centre of the central array 6A and a back edge of the central array 6A. Fur^¬ ther, the second set of lights 7 defines a first array 7A of LED lights and a second array 7B of LED lights, such that each of the first array 7A and the second array 7B are located next to a left side and a right side of the central array 6A of the first set of lights 6, respectively. In the illustration of FIG. 2, a total of six strips of LEDs from the first set of lights 6 have been shown in the central array 6A; and a three strips of LEDs from the second set of lights 7 has been shown in each of the first array 7A and the second array 7B. The shown number of strips of LEDs in each set of lights 6, 7 are exemplary only and not lim^¬ iting to the disclosure in any manner.

In one example, a density of individual LED lights in the first array 7A and the second array 7B of the sec^¬ ond set of lights 7 is relatively higher compared to a density of LED lights in the central array 6A of the first set of lights. In other words, the strips of LEDs in the second set of lights 7 are packed rela^¬ tively closer together compared to the strips of LEDs in the first set of lights 6. Such an arrangement may help to visually distinguish between the first set of lights 6 and the second set of lights 7 from the per^¬ spective of the operator in the remote operation centre 1.

Further, as illustrated, the strips of LEDs, e.g., 6a and 7a are laid running substantially parallel to the symmetry axis A. In one example, the individual LED lights 6al, 6a2, , 6aN are laid along a first di^¬ rection D in a manner such that the first LED light 6al is relatively closer to the operator chair 3 as compared to the last LED light 6aN. It may be under^¬ stood that strips of LEDs 6a, 7a are secured to the floor 2 by sticking or fastening the strips to the floor 2 from a planar backside thereof. In one embodiment, the floor 2 may be made of a trans^¬ parent or a translucent material with substantial strength and hardness, such as a plexi-glass sheets or the like; and the strips of LEDs 6a, 7a may be laid underneath the floor 2, e.g. on a sub-floor or the like. This way the strips of LEDs 6a, 7a may not pose any obstruction to, or get damaged by, the operator walking on the floor 2 and may be still be visible when the corresponding LED lights are switched ON.

In an alternate embodiment, the first set of lights 6 and the second set of lights 7 may comprise a number of tiles which have a transparent or substantially translucent upper surface and lights provided inter^¬ nally thereof. In such case, the individual lights in^¬ side the tiles may be independently controlled. Such implementations having array of tiles with lights therein are known in the art, e.g., the use of dance floors, and thus have not been described in detail herein. It may be understood that any other alternate arrangement of lights, including placing individual lights on the surface 2 connected by wires, may be contemplated for the purpose of the present disclosure without any limitations.

In a further alternate embodiment, the first set of lights 6 and the second set of lights 7 may be placed on the floor on an area starting from the bottom edge of the display arrangement 4 and extending 15-20 cen^¬ timetres from the bottom edge. This is an area where nobody would in practice walk on, and this would pro- vide a low-cost solution without a particular need to protect the first and second sets of lights 6, 7.

In one embodiment, as illustrated in FIG. 3, the strips of LEDs 6a, 7a may extend to the display ar- rangement 4. The strips of LEDs 6a, 7a may specifical^¬ ly run parallel to sides panels of the flat displays 5 of the display arrangement 4. This arrangement may create an ambience around the display arrangement 4 right in front of the operator for simulating one or more operational conditions of the vessel, and thereby create an overall and more pronounced simulation ef^¬ fect in the remote operation centre 1. In an embodiment of the present disclosure, the remote operation centre 1 further comprises a driving circuit 8 configured to control the one or more sets of lights 6, 7. In the exemplary illustrations of FIGS. 1-2, the driver circuit 8 is shown in the form of a box which is in connection with the one or more sets of lights 6, 7. The driver circuit 8 may be electrically coupled with each of the strips of LEDs in the first set of lights 6 and the second set of lights 7. Specifically, the driver circuit 8 may regulate the power supplied to the individual LED lights in the first set of lights 6 and the second set of lights 7. FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary schematic of the re^¬ mote operation centre 1. As illustrated, the driver circuit 8, in one example, may comprise a receiver 9 configured to receive the generated signals, namely, the movement signal and the one or more thrust sig- nals. The receiver 9 may be in signal communication with the transmission unit in the vessel to receive the movement signal and the one or more thrust sig^¬ nals, via one or more standard communication channels as discussed earlier. The receiver may further be con- figured to decode signals from the transmitter on a real-time basis. In other examples, the receiver 9 may be a standalone component, not a part of the driving circuit 8 but in connection therewith. In the embodiments of the present disclosure, the driving circuit 8 is configured to control the one or more sets of lights 6, 7 individually or in groups in terms of one or more of brightness, colour and temper^¬ ature based at least on one of the movement signal and one or more thrust signals indicative of the movement of the vessel and a current power state of correspond^¬ ing one or more thrusters in the vessel, respectively. In one example, the driver circuit 8 is configured to independently control the first array 7A and the sec^¬ ond array 7B of the second set of lights 7 correspond^¬ ing to the first thrust signal and the second thrust signal, respectively.

For this purpose, the driving circuit 8 may include at least one processor for example, a processor 10, and at least one memory for example, a memory 11. The memory 11 is capable of storing machine executable in^¬ structions, and the processor 10 is capable of execut^¬ ing the stored machine executable instructions. The memory 11 may be embodied as one or more volatile memory devices, one or more non-volatile memory devic- es, and/or a combination of one or more volatile memory devices and non-volatile memory devices. The processor 10 may be embodied in a number of different ways. In an embodiment, the processor 10 may be embod^¬ ied as one or more of various processing devices, such as a coprocessor, a microprocessor, a controller, a digital signal processor (DSP) , processing circuitry with or without an accompanying DSP, or various other processing devices including integrated circuits such as, for example, an application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) , a field programmable gate array (FPGA) , a microcontroller unit (MCU) , a hardware ac^¬ celerator, a special-purpose computer chip, or the like. In an example embodiment, the processor 10 is an Arduino based or a similar processing unit. In at least one example embodiment, the processor 10 utiliz^¬ es computer program code perform one or more actions responsible for controlling the one or more sets of lights 6,7. In one embodiment, the driving circuit 8 is configured to switch ON consecutive individual LED lights 6al, then 6a2, then 6a3 and so on up to 6aN in the strip of LEDs 6a, based on the movement signal indicative of the movement of the vessel in a forward direction thereof. Referring to FIG. 2, the driving circuit 8 may light up the consecutive individual LED lights along the first direction D from the perspective of the operator sitting on the operator chair 3. In other cases, the driving circuit 8 is configured to switch ON consecutive individual LED lights 6aN, then 6a (N- 1), then 6a(N-2) and so on up to 6al (i.e. along a second direction opposite to the first direction D) in the strip of LEDs 6a, based on the movement signal in^¬ dicative of the movement of the vessel in a backward direction thereof. The driving circuit 8 may further be configured to op^¬ tionally and simultaneously switch OFF preceding indi^¬ vidual LED lights in the same strip of LEDs 6a as it switches on the individual LED lights along the first direction or the second direction. That is, as the driving circuit 8 switches ON the LED light 6a2, it may simultaneously switch OFF the LED light 6al when moving along the first direction. It may be contemplated that, in some examples, switching ON and OFF the LED light may comprise increasing and decreasing its brightness to a programmed level, respectively. Therefore, the switching ON/OFF the LEDs may include regulating their brightness. In some examples, the driving circuit 8 may not completely switch OFF the individual LED lights but may only discretely decrease the brightness of such lights, thereby simulating a kind of directional arrow with low brightness at tail- end and higher brightness at head-end along a portion of the strip of LEDs 6, with such directional arrow representing the direction of the movement of the ves- sel as indicated by the movement signal. In another embodiment, the driving circuit 8 is con^¬ figured to discretely and incrementally increase the brightness of consecutive individual LED lights in the strip of LEDs 6a along the first direction D based on the movement signal indicative of the movement of the vessel in a forward direction. Similarly, the driving circuit 8 is configured to discretely and incremental^¬ ly decrease the brightness of consecutive individual LED lights in the strip of LEDs 6a along the first di- rection D (or in other words, increase the brightness along the second direction) based on the movement sig^¬ nal indicative of the movement of the vessel in a backward direction thereof. In another embodiment, the driving circuit 8 is con^¬ figured to discretely and incrementally increase the temperature of consecutive individual LED lights (e.g., up to intense RED) in the strip of LEDs 6a along the first direction D based on the movement sig- nal indicative of the movement of the vessel in a for^¬ ward direction. Similarly, the driving circuit 8 is configured to discretely and incrementally decrease the temperature of consecutive individual LED lights (e.g., up to dim RED) in the strip of LEDs 6a along the first direction D (or in other words, increase the temperature along the second direction) based on the movement signal indicative of the movement of the ves^¬ sel in a backward direction thereof. In yet another embodiment, the driving circuit 8 is configured to selectively change colour of the indi^¬ vidual LED lights in the strip of LEDs 6a based on the movement signal indicative of the movement of the ves^¬ sel in a forward direction or a backward direction thereof. For example, the driving circuit 8 may light up the strip of LEDs 6a in GREEN colour to indicate the movement of the vessel in a forward direction, and in RED colour to indicate the movement of the vessel in a backward direction. These colour configurations are exemplary only and shall not be considered limit^¬ ing to the disclosure.

In an embodiment, the rate of selectively switching ON or OFF, or increasing or decreasing the brightness or temperature of the consecutive LED, or changing the colours of array of lights, may depend on the speed of the vessel as indicated by the movement signal. For instance, for each one unit of movement of the vessel in a given time, the next consecutive LED light may be switched ON/OFF, or in other words, its brightness, colour or temperature changed in relation to the given time, as pre-programmed in the driver circuit 8 along with the implemented unit of measurement of the speed of the vessel. This arrangement may provide the opera^¬ tor with a sense of speed of movement of the vessel while sitting in the remote operation centre 1.

Further, for simulating the current power state of the one or more thrusters in the vessel, the driving cir^¬ cuit 8 is configured to selectively change one of brightness, colour and temperature of the individual LED lights in the strip of LEDs 7a of the second set of lights 7 based on the one or more thrust signals. As discussed, the driver circuit 8 is configured to independently control the first array 7A and the sec^¬ ond array 7B of the second set of lights 7 correspond- ing to the first thrust signal and the second thrust signal, respectively.

Taking the example of the first array 7A, the driver circuit 8 is configured to selectively change the col- our of LED light in the strip 7a of the first array 7A among others; for example, to GREEN colour in case the first thruster is running with the current power state being ^xlow load' , to YELLOW colour in case the first thruster is running with the current power state being ^xmedium load' , and to RED colour in case the first thruster is running with the current power state being ^xhigh load' . In other example, the driver circuit 8 is configured to selectively change the temperature of LED light in the strip 7a of the first array 7A among others; for example, from dim RED to intense RED with increasing load on the first thruster.

In one or more examples, the driving circuit 8 is con^¬ figured to control the one or more sets of lights 6,7 based on a current movement mode of the vessel. For example, if the vessel is in mooring mode, the driving circuit 8 may light the LED lights to move in direct proportion to the movement of the vessel. That is, in one example, for each one unit of movement of the ves^¬ sel, one consecutive LED light may be switched ON/OFF, as configured. It may be understood that the mooring mode, as described herein, is defined as the movement phase of the vessel when approaching a harbour, i.e. when it is still moving, but moving slowly towards the harbour. In another example, if the vessel is in sea/cruise mode, the driving circuit 8 may light the LED lights to move with some reduction relative to the movement of the vessel. That is, for example, one con^¬ secutive LED light may be switched ON/OFF with more than one unit, say 10 units, of movement of the vessel in such case.

In one or more examples, the driving circuit 8 is con^¬ figured to control the one or more sets of lights 6,7 based on a current illumination state of the remote operation centre 1. Typically, the driving circuit 8 may keep the brightness of the LED lights in the one or more sets of lights 6,7 to be barely observable over the current illumination state of the remote op- eration centre 1. This is achieved by measuring a cur^¬ rent illumination state of the remote operation centre 1 by suitable instruments and adjusting the lower lev^¬ el of the brightness of the LED lights in the one or more sets of lights 6,7 to be slightly greater than the brightness required to be visible as per the cur^¬ rent illumination state. In other words, the bright^¬ ness of the LED lights should automatically adapt to the general illumination of the remote operation cen- tre 1. It may be understood that this is done so that the one or more sets of lights 6,7 may not pose as a distraction to the operator for focusing on the display arrangement 4, while still being able to sub^¬ consciously convey the desired information to the op- erator related to the operational conditions of the vessel .

In one example, the overall illumination of the remote operation centre 1 should resemble that of the naviga- tion bridge on the vessel, taking the time of day at the vessel's location, for instance, into account. This provides the operator with even more intuitive and deeper simulation experience for monitoring the vessel remotely from the remote operation centre 1.

In one or more examples, the driving circuit 8 is con^¬ figured to control the one or more sets of lights 6,7 based on predefined operator's preferences. For exam^¬ ple, the present system may include means to identify different operators, such as by the current logged-in profile of the operator, or by using techniques, such as facial or voice recognition, etc. Further, the pre^¬ sent system may build a library of operator preferences, such as the preferred mode (e.g., switching ON/OFF, colour control, brightness control, etc.) for simulating the direction of movement of the vessel and store such preferences in a memory. As the current op- erator is identified, the present system may load these operator preferences and configure the driver circuit 8 to use the defined modes for simulating the one or more operational conditions of the vessel.

The remote operation centre 1 of the present disclo^¬ sure can simulate one or more operational conditions on-board the vessel in order to provide the operator with a deeper and more immersive experience and pro- vide the operator with a sense of being at a naviga^¬ tion bridge of the vessel. The remote operation centre creates effect of the motion of the lights to indicate the corresponding movement of the vessel in a particu^¬ lar direction. The remote operation centre further simulates the vibrations caused by the operation of the thrusters, when manoeuvring the vessel, with cor^¬ responding effects of LED lights in the remote opera^¬ tion centre 1, the idea being to indicate tough weath^¬ er conditions (like strong winds and waves) . There- fore, the present disclosure provides the operator sitting on the operator chair 3 in the remote operation centre 1 with substantially real experience as if the operator is on-board the vessel. The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the present disclosure have been presented for purpos^¬ es of illustration and description. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit the present dis^¬ closure to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching. The embodiments were cho^¬ sen and described in order to best explain the princi^¬ ples of the present disclosure and its practical ap^¬ plication, to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize the present disclosure and various em^¬ bodiments with various modifications as are suited to the particular use contemplated. It will be understood that the benefits and advantages described above may relate to one embodiment or may relate to several embodiments. The embodiments are not limited to those that solve any or all of the stated problems or those that have any or all of the stated benefits and advantages.

It will be understood that the above description is given by way of example only and that various modifi^¬ cations may be made by those skilled in the art. The above specification, examples and data provide a com^¬ plete description of the structure and use of exempla^¬ ry embodiments. Although various embodiments have been described above with a certain degree of particulari^¬ ty, or with reference to one or more individual embod^¬ iments, those skilled in the art could make numerous alterations to the disclosed embodiments without de^¬ parting from the spirit or scope of this specifica- tion.

Thus, although the disclosure has been the described in conjunction with a certain type of the remote operation centre, it should be understood that the disclo- sure is not limited to any certain type. While the present disclosures have been described in connection with a number of exemplary embodiments, and implementations, the present disclosures are not so limited, but rather cover various modifications, and equivalent arrangements, which fall within the purview of pro^¬ spective claims.

Claims

1. A remote operation centre (1) for monitoring a vessel, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the remote opera- tion centre comprises:

one or more sets of lights (6, 7) secured to a surface (2) thereof; and

a driving circuit (8) configured to control one or more sets of lights (6, 7), individually or in groups, in terms of one or more of brightness, colour and temperature based at least on one of a movement signal and one or more thrust signals indicative of a movement of the vessel and a current power state of corresponding one or more thrusters in the vessel, re- spectively.

2. The remote operation centre according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the surface comprises a floor of the remote operation centre.

3. The remote operation centre according to claim 2, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the remote operation centre comprises an operator chair fixed to the floor, the operator chair being positioned lying on a sym- metry axis therein.

4. A remote operation centre according to claim 3, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the remote operation centre further comprises a display arrangement ar- ranged as a vertical half-cylinder formation to pro^¬ vide a 180-degrees panoramic view for an operator sit^¬ ting in the operator chair in relation to the symmetry axis, the one or more sets of lights extending to the display arrangement.

5. A remote operation centre according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the one or more sets of lights comprise a first set of lights and a second set of lights.

6. A remote operation centre according to claim 5, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the first set of lights comprises one or more strips of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs), each of the strip of LEDs comprising a plural^¬ ity of individual LED lights.

7. A remote operation centre according to claim 3 and 6, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the one or more strips of LEDs are laid running substantially parallel to the symmetry axis.

8. A remote operation centre according to claim 7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the first set of lights defines a central array of individual LED lights ar^¬ ranged, such that the operator chair is located either at or between a geometric centre of the said array and a back edge of the said array.

9. A remote operation centre according to claim 7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the driving circuit is configured to switch ON consecutive individual LED lights in the one or more strips of LEDs along a first direction, based on the movement signal indicative of the movement of the vessel in a forward direction thereof .

10. A remote operation centre according to claim 9, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the driving circuit is configured to switch ON consecutive individual LED lights in the one or more strips of LEDs along a sec^¬ ond direction opposite to the first direction, based on the movement signal indicative of the movement of the vessel in a backward direction thereof.

11. A remote operation centre according to claim 9 or 10, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the driving circuit is configured to optionally and simultaneously switch OFF preceding individual LED lights in the same one or more strips of LEDs .

12. A remote operation centre according to claim 7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the driving circuit is configured to incrementally increase or decrease the brightness of consecutive individual LED lights in the one or more strips of LEDs along a first direction, based on the movement signal indicative of the move^¬ ment of the vessel in a forward direction or a back^¬ ward direction thereof, respectively.

13. A remote operation centre according to claim 7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the driving circuit is configured to incrementally increase or decrease the temperature of consecutive individual LED lights in the one or more strips of LEDs along a first direc^¬ tion, based on the movement signal indicative of the movement of the vessel in a forward direction or a backward direction thereof, respectively.

14. A remote operation centre according to claim 7, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the driving circuit is configured to selectively change colour of the indi^¬ vidual LED lights in the one or more strips of LEDs, based on the movement signal indicative of the move- ment of the vessel in a forward direction or a back^¬ ward direction thereof.

15. A remote operation centre according to claim 5, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the second set of lights comprises one or more strips of Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) , each of the strip of LEDs comprises a plurality of individual LED lights.

16. A remote operation centre according to claim 3 and 15, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the one or more strips of LEDs are laid running parallel to the sym- metry axis .

17. A remote operation centre according to claim 8 and 15, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the second set of lights defines a first array of individual LED lights and a second array of individual LED lights, each of the first array and the second array located next to a left side and a right side of the central array of the first set of lights, respectively.

18. A remote operation centre according to claim 17, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that a density of individual LED lights in the first array and the second array of the second set of lights is relatively higher compared to a density of individual LED lights in the central array of the first set of lights.

19. A remote operation centre according to claim 17, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the driver circuit is configured to control the first array and the second array of the second set of lights corresponding to a first thruster and a second thruster of the vessel, respectively .

20. A remote operation centre according to claim 15, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the driving circuit is configured to discretely increase or decrease one of brightness and temperature of the individual LED lights in the one or more strips of LEDs based on the one or more thrust signals indicative of the current power state of the one or more thrusters being higher or lower than a normal power state of the one or more thrusters for current operation of the vessel.

21. A remote operation centre according to claim 15, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the driving circuit is configured to change colour of the one or more strips of LEDs based on the one or more thrust signals indic^¬ ative of the current power state of the one or more thrusters being higher or lower than a normal power state of the one or more thrusters for current opera^¬ tion of the vessel.

22. A remote operation centre according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the driving circuit is configured to control the one or more sets of lights based on a current illumination state of the remote operation centre.

23. A remote operation centre according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the driving circuit is configured to control the overall illumination of the remote operation centre to resemble that of a naviga^¬ tion bridge on the vessel.

24. A remote operation centre according to claim 1, c h a r a c t e r i z e d in that the driving circuit is configured to control the one or more sets of lights based on predefined operator's preferences.