Rules of the road for unmanned marine vehicles

Abstract

The growing use of unmanned marine vehicles (UMVs) demands safe and reliable operation in order to assure acceptance and integration into public water space. By looking at the evolution of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) and examining the existing legal structure related to safe maritime operations, we explore the path ahead for UMVs. The existing COLREGS (rules of the road) for marine vessel operation may be undergoing modifications in order to accommodate UMVs, while simultaneously, designers of UMVs are working on developing advanced autonomy behaviors that exhibit human-like on-water performance by UMVs. This paper presents a snapshot of the rapidly changing field of UMV operation, with particular focus on software technology shaping higher level autonomy behavior and on the legal landscape providing the framework for acceptable operation in public water space.