How boatcam imagery is making sailing safer
Improved camera imagery and software incorporating artificial intelligence are increasingly making sailing easier, from parking to detecting UFOS. Rupert Holmes reports
The past few years have seen a huge amount of development in the field of onboard imagery, which now goes far beyond simple still and video cameras. Artificial intelligence enables captured images to be used in a multitude of different ways including augmented reality, assisted docking and automated detection and warnings of objects such as floating containers or whales in the path of the boat.
At the same time our boats are becoming progressively better connected (see The Intelligent Boat, YW November 2019). This enables camera images to trigger warnings that can be sent to your phone when you’re not on board, or to activate an onboard alarm.
In addition, infrared thermal night vision cameras are more powerful, compact and less costly than in the past, although prices for some models are still significant.
The leader in this marketplace is Raymarine’s owner FLIR, which has a huge range. The Us-based company has its roots in pioneering high-performance, low-cost infrared (thermal) imaging systems for airborne applications and now has a broader remit developing technologies that enhance perception and awareness
Today even the simplest marine cameras are marinised HD video cameras with similar tech to CCTV cameras. They can be used both when moored and at sea for a host of situations from surveillance to berthing.
CAMERA INTERFACES
Just as today’s cars have large flat-screen monitors, these onboard cameras can be interfaced with Multi Function Displays (MFDS) to
give a clear output at each helm station, or at the chart table.
In the past we’ve tended to see only single MFDS used at each station. However, even with screens becoming larger and more flexible, in future multiple displays will become more common on sailing yachts.
Many visible light spectrum cameras can even capture images in darkness, though with limited range and clarity. Models that offer power-overethernet are quicker to install as only a single wire is needed to link them up to an MFD.
These cameras can be used for a variety of monitoring purposes, from engine rooms to covering blind spots when berthing. This can be particularly useful on multihulls where the four corners of the boat are not always visible from the helm station.
Garmin’s GC100 (£349) is easy to install and can be wirelessly interfaced with an MFD as part of a network of up to seven cameras, the output of four of which can be viewed simultaneously.
The company’s GC12 (£349) is a compact analogue camera that delivers good images, even in low light and has a number of additional features compared to the GC100, even though it lacks wifi. Typical uses include as a stern camera for reversing into a berth or quay and for engine room monitoring. The picture can be viewed on TVS, video monitors and MFDS that have a video input. A reverse-image setting is intended to help when reversing out of tight spaces, such as a crowded marina.
Garmin systems and MFDS can also be interfaced with FLIR cameras. This is part of a continued trend of increasing integration and improved user interfaces across a whole range of marine products including cameras, digital switching, entertainment systems and so on.
Raymarine’s new CAM210 IP (£735) meets the minimum spec needed for the company’s Clearview augmented reality system. The CAM220 IP (£525) is a dome camera of similar specification. Four bright LEDS give a range of up to 20m in infrared mode, even in total darkness.
The B&G /Navico Mini Colour Camera with Infra Red (£422) has a small form, measuring only 54 x 43mm. Twelve infrared LEDS provide a range of up to 8m for monochrome images in complete darkness.
HIGH SPEC CAMERAS
FLIR’S new M300 series is a higher specification range of five visible spectrum and thermal cameras incorporating active gyro stabilisation and a 360° pan-and-tilt housing. The range includes single-sensor visible spectrum and thermal cameras, as well as dual-sensor systems that can superimpose thermal and visible spectrum images in the same frame.
In addition, the company’s MSX imaging technology extracts edges and borders from the visible camera and blends these elements with the thermal image, improving the definition of more distant objects. All M300 series models are suitable for use with Raymarine’s Clearcruise augmented reality system.
The base specification M300C (£6,995) has an HD visible spectrum camera with an ultra-flexible 30x optical zoom that’s sufficiently powerful and well stabilised to zoom into the detail of a small anchorage. It’s also useful in low light situations, in an analogous manner to that in which binoculars are good at gathering weak light.
M332 (£9,495) and M364 (£15,995) models have 320px and 640px thermal sensors, while the M364C (£22,995) adds a visible spectrum camera with 30x optical zoom and can superimpose both visible spectrum and thermal images in the same frame. This creates a colour image even at night, enabling lookouts to literally see in the dark. At the top of the line, the M364C LR (£32,995) has an extended range.
FLIR’S M500 series models have a cooled thermal imaging sensor, which gives a longer range and better resolution. They also benefit from a 14x optical zoom in thermal mode. Aside from higher prices, the downside of these models for all but the largest sailing yachts is
significantly greater bulk and weight – 500 series models weigh around 20kg.
Lower cost FLIR thermal cameras suitable for use at sea include the Scion OTM range of handheld monocular (from £2,494). This is a successor to the Ocean Scout model with 320 and 640 pixel resolution options, geotagging and a recording option. In future it will also offer wifi streaming to MFDS. The unit can’t see through water or glass, but will show marine life above the surface. AUGMENTED REALITY
Raymarine’s Clear Cruise object detection system combines video images with chart and AIS data. The result is an augmented reality overlay on real-time imagery that shows navigation marks, waypoints, AIS targets and other obstructions. It launched with the CAM210 HD camera, plus Raymarine’s AR200 image stabilisation module networked to Raymarine Axiom, Axiom Pro, and Axiom XL series MFDS.
What does the future hold for this type of technology?
“Augmented reality is right at the beginning of what we will be able to present to the user,” says FLIR’S director of marketing Jim Hands.
He told me the next stage is likely to see much more in the way of video analytics, using machine learning to improve object detection.
This is a hot subject at the top end of offshore racing, where fast yachts from IMOCA 60s to Ultime trimarans suffer an increasing number of collisions with unseen floating objects, or ‘UFOS’, including sea life. OBSTRUCTION DETECTION
Following a string of high-profile incidents the top end of the racing community has adopted a twopronged approach to developing systems capable of detecting floating objects from containers to whales. One branch of this, developed by Rhode Island-based Farsounder, is adapting powerful sonar that was originally developed for larger vessels (see YW March 2020).
The second branch relies on cameras near the masthead and is under development by Port La Forêt-based BSB Marine. The company, which has worked on the system alongside Jean Le Cam, Vincent Riou, Armel Le Cléach and François Gabart, has already released a beta version called OSCAR.
Two thermal cameras mounted at the masthead provide stereo vision and the unit also has a single visible spectrum camera. The masthead gear weighs 750g and can compensate for rotating masts.
Output from the cameras is fed to a processing unit that uses artificial intelligence to detect floating objects and produce real time collision prevention warnings. The beta system classifies floating objects as ‘boat’, ‘buoy’, ‘human’ or ‘unknown object’. The intention is to add whale and container to these categories as the system learns to better identify items that are less commonly encountered.
“The beta version allows us to further ‘educate’ OSCAR through concrete navigation experiences and wider weather conditions,” says project manager Solenn Gouerou. “This will continuously increase our database and improve the detection and identification performance of floating objects. The more vessels that are fitted with OSCAR the quicker it will be able to recognise these less common objects.”
The system uses thermal vision to detect an obstruction and needs a certain number of pixels to identify a danger. This places a limit on both range and the size of floating object that can be detected.
Solenn says: “We commit on detection of a 1m x 1m object at a 150m range, but we already know from our experience and user feedback that a 30cm diameter fishing mark can be clearly detected at 150m. At 600m – our priority range of surveillance for warning – we can detect a
4 x 1m object.”
Thanks to the use of thermal vision for detection of objects the system is just as powerful at night as during the day.
Sea state interferes with detection, so an object hidden by a huge wave won’t be seen. However, a tracking function means an object
that’s temporarily obscured won’t be lost.
OSCAR has already been installed on a dozen IMOCA 60s, plus some Ultime trimarans and a Lagoon Seventy7 cruising catamaran. The high speeds of these boats necessitated higher definition thermal cameras and very powerful processors, hence the high prices. However,
BSB Marine is working hard to roll out a model for boats with an average speed of 10 knots, at a price point below €10,000.
OSCAR 40R (2 FLIR cameras 640px resolution) €28,800
OSCAR 30R (2 FLIR camera 320px resolution) €19,800 oscar-system.com
DOCKING ASSISTANCE
Raymarine’s Dock Sense products use cameras to make manoeuvring and berthing easier.
Both versions are based on stereo cameras with distance perception to identify where the boat is in relation to the dock and obstructions such as piles and other boats. The technology was originally developed for automated people counters in applications such as determining footfall in retail environments. A single camera may be sufficient for stern-to mooring Mediterranean style, while five cameras provide all-round coverage.
“A lot of calibration was required to adapt the concept for marine use,” according to FLIR’S Jim Hands. “We did a lot of work on compensating for ripples on the surface of the water and glare. The result is very sensitive tech that can even pick up floating debris.”
The Dock Sense Alert is not an autonomous system – you’re still in control of the boat.
Instead the aim is to provide more information to stop you making mistakes – a kind of guardian angel while you’re berthing. The Dock Sense Control line, initially developed with Prestige motoryachts, Boston Whalers and Mercury Marine, goes a stage further in that the system is connected to propulsion systems and thrusters. This enables the software to nudge the boat away from danger in much the same way that a car’s collision avoidance assistance system helps a driver to avoid mistakes.