Rolls-Royce and VTT join forces on autonomous ship development

Rolls-Royce is pioneering the development of remote controlled and autonomous ships and believes a remote controlled ship will be in commercial use by the end of the decade.

The company is already leading the Advanced Autonomous Waterborne Applications Initiative (AAWA), a project which brings together a host of industry and academic partners and aims to make autonomous ships a reality. In a paper published earlier this year (June 2016) outlining its vision for autonomous ships, the company argued that autonomous technology will enable a fundamental shift in the way that ships are designed and operated, enabling them to carry far more cargo.

Rolls-Royce said that the new relationship with VTT will enable it to tap into Finnish centre's expertise in both ship simulation and the management of safety-critical and complex systems in demanding environments. What’s more, thanks to its work with the telecommunications sector, VTT has extensive experience of working with 5G mobile phone technology and wi-fi mesh networks.