Influence of System Delay of Remote Control Ships on Mariners

To develop an autonomous ship, the first step is to develop a system that shore crew are cooperating with navigator on board and maneuvering a ship. As the system uses satellite communication, there is a delay from the navigator command until the steering angle actually changes. In order to estimate the standard limit for the delay, this study investigated the navigator mental workload fluctuation in evading navigation with the steering system, which experiences delays caused by satellite communication. The experiment revealed that the navigator felt stress for a steering system delay of 2 s or more in evading navigation.