L3 ASV has received funding from the U.K. government for a “pioneering project” on autonomous navigation of maritime vessels.

Along with its partners in the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) and United Kingdom Hydrographic Office (UKHO), L3 ASV will conduct a study that focuses on the “future of marine navigational data and charts.”

Funded by the Department for Transport’s Transport Technology Research Innovation Grant (T-TRIG), the project will look to promote early-stage science, engineering or technology innovations, with the potential to advance the U.K.’s transport system.

To start, L3 ASV’s T-TRIG project will explore the characteristics of navigational data and charts in terms of what they’re made of, their structure and how they are updated.

“Current navigational data and charts have been developed over centuries to be read and interpreted by humans,” says Dan Hook, Senior Director of Business Development at L3 ASV.

“Today, and over the coming decade, more and more marine vessels will be operating unmanned, and the charts will be read by computers.”

The project will identify the technical data requirements needed to facilitate the development of a Smart Chart system. To enable safer navigation, the Smart Chart system will provide information to the autonomous vessels.

“Understanding the data requirements of autonomous vessels is going to be hugely important for the MCA if we are to continue to ensure the safety of navigation in U.K. waters to save lives and combat pollution,” explains Tim Wilkes, Product Manager for the MCA.

“This project will help us identify some of the regulatory issues that accompany a shift to smart and autonomous shipping, and will highlight how the MCA can use its wealth of bathymetric and ship movement data to support this growing industry.”