A Preliminary Research to Develop Obstacle Detection System including Distance Measurement

Many nautical instruments such as radar, AIS and ECDIS support the seafarer's Look-out on large vessels. However, there are few small ships equipped with these devices, while small ships account for 80% of the ships that suffered a marine accident. Therefore, in order to support the lookout of these ships, we developed a distance measurement system in addition to the obstacle detection system and evaluated its performance. With this system, we aim to develop a Look-out environment equivalent to the case where a small vessel is equipped with navigation equipment such as radar with only a camera and a personal computer, and to reduce the burden on the Look-out of the seafarers.