Rolls-Royce, Intel Launch Autonomous Ship Collaboration

Rolls-Royce and Intel have signed an agreement with an aim to collaborate on designs for sophisticated intelligent shipping systems that are expected to make commercial shipping safer.

Image Courtesy: Rolls-Royce

“We’re delighted to sign this agreement with Intel, and look forward to working together on developing exciting new technologies and products, which will play a big part in enabling the safe operation of autonomous ships,” Kevin Daffey, Rolls-Royce, Director, Engineering & Technology and Ship Intelligence, commented.

As explained, the new collaboration will advance smart, connected and data-centric systems for ship owners, operators, cargo owners and ports, bringing together the expertise in advanced ship technology from Rolls-Royce with components and systems engineering from Intel.

“This collaboration can help us to support ship owners in the automation of their navigation and operations, reducing the opportunity for human error and allowing crews to focus on more valuable tasks,” Daffey added.

“Rolls-Royce is a key driver of innovation in the shipping industry we are proud to be working with them on smart, connected and data-centric systems that will be a foundation for safe shipping operations around the world in the future,” Adrian Criddle, General Manager and SVP of Intel UK, said.

With a focus on safety, new ships will have systems with the same technology found in smart cities, autonomous cars and drones, according to the two companies.

The new shipping intelligence systems will have data center and artificial intelligence capabilities as well as sophisticated edge computing throughout that independently manage navigation, obstacle detection and communications. The components embedded in these systems are dedicated to work load consolidation, edge computing, communications and storage.