EyeCaptain – Assistance System for Maritime Situational Awareness

Project Description and Background

EyeCaptain is a camera-based assistance system for the ship’s bridge that fuses 360° panoramic and thermal imagery with AIS, GPS, radar, and ENC data to create a unified situational picture. It calculates the distance and time of approach (CPA and TCPA), identifies risky encounters according to COLREGs, and provides context-specific warnings of collision and grounding risks. Its primary areas of application include narrow fairways, dense traffic conditions, poor visibility, and port maneuvers.

Background: Increasing traffic density, complex harbor maneuvers, and limited visibility require early, reliable warnings and a consistent overall view for the bridge team. EyeCaptain provides these in real time and documents relevant events for training and safety optimization, including on the land side.

Features of EyeCaptain

• All-around visibility day and night, including thermal imaging for poor visibility
• Early, calculation-based warnings (CPA/TCPA, risk encounters)
• Unified situational awareness through sensor fusion in accordance with applicable collision prevention regulations (COLREGs)
• Intuitive touchscreen interface on the bridge
• Automatic event recording for post-analysis

Contributions of Fraunhofer CML to the project

• Design of system architecture and sensor fusion (camera/thermal imaging, radar, AIS, GPS, ENC information)
• Development of algorithms for tracking, CPA/TCPA, and COLREGs-based risk assessment
• Creation of context-sensitive HMI/UX designs for narrow fairways and ports
• Integration, testing, and data analysis in the ship handling simulator and on pilot vessels
• Technology transfer and product maturity from previous funded projects (B ZERO, FernSAMS)

Project Status

Status: Project launch in 2021; pilot phases on vessels operated by the Bernhard Schulte shipping company; phased rollout (Core and Full versions with additional bridge cams)

Research Partners

Funding Agencies and Predecessor Projects

Note: EyeCaptain is an assistance system. Responsibility and decision-making remain with the bridge team; applicable regulations (e.g., COLREGs) and onboard procedures take precedence.