Using an USV for Automatic Deployment of a Boom Around a Ship: Simulation and Scale Experiment

The paper explores the automatic deployment of oil containment booms around ships, using an unmanned surface vehicle (USV). The task of the USV is boom towing following adequate trajectories. A standard scenario would be ships moored to a dock, although it also could be open sea. The target is to prevent leakage escape during crude transfers, or any other contaminant. Surrounding ships with booms is becoming a common practice. The main result of the research is to confirm that this automatic deployment can be done, according with a suitable USV planning. To justify this conclusion, a combined effort of simulation and experiments has been done. A mathematical model of the boom dynamics has been developed, and used for the development of a simulation tool. This tool is employed for operation planning, and for estimation of forces and other aspects. Experiments have been done with a scale USV and boom, with satisfactory results. The paper describes the models and the experiments. Some recommendations are deduced from our first results.