Navy Returns to Compasses and Pencils to Help Avoid Collisions at Sea

Re:Navy Returns to Compasses and Pencils to Help Avoid Colli... by drawnwren on Monday October 02, 2017 @03:24PM (#15387066)

This seems like a UI issue more than anything. How do we even have multi million dollar ships that are capable of violating the rules of the sea? It seems like an ideal situation for a driver assistance type package that is able to be removed during combat operation.

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Re:Navy Returns to Compasses and Pencils to Help Avoid Colli... by gaius on Monday October 02, 2017 @04:11PM (#15387498)

How do we even have multi million dollar ships that are capable of violating the rules of the sea?

If shipping lanes were like roads that might be possible, but they aren't and it isn't, because COLREGS don't work like that.

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Re:Navy Returns to Compasses and Pencils to Help Avoid Colli... by drawnwren on Monday October 02, 2017 @08:26PM (#15389084)

They arent, however the rules of the sea are very simple. More importantly a calculation of probability of collision between two slow moving giant metal objects would be easy.

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Re:Navy Returns to Compasses and Pencils to Help Avoid Colli... by gaius on Tuesday October 03, 2017 @02:13AM (#15390517)

Ever been a skipper manoeuvring in confined waters with multiple vessels around you? I have, and it is at least an order of magnitude more complex than anything I've ever encountered on the road.

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Re:Navy Returns to Compasses and Pencils to Help Avoid Colli... by TeMPOraL on Tuesday October 03, 2017 @09:15AM (#15392148)

Still; assuming you can get good, real-time estimates of mass, rough shape, position and velocity vector of each of the ships around you, making a system to compute probable collisions sounds like a small undergrad-level project at best. What are the obvious things I'm missing here?

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Re:Navy Returns to Compasses and Pencils to Help Avoid Colli... by gaius on Tuesday October 03, 2017 @01:24PM (#15394141)

You would need to account for drag and windage. Basically know everyone's hull shape and CFD it! And the seabed under them.

At a distance it's easy - but in confined waters it gets very complicated very quickly. I've seen situations where literally the only solution is, who do I collide with.

In the case of the USN they have a hell of a lot more manoeuvrability than a freighter but they can't escape the laws o'physics...

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