Autonomous freight transport is becoming an increasingly relevant topic in transport and logistics. Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships (or MASS) can sail to varying degrees of autonomy, making “smart” shipping possible and sailing with fewer or even full crew members. MASS is intended to enable shipping …

Autonomous shipping is expected to be gradually adopted in the coming years. While many scientific studies in the field have focused on technological development, recent research has started to explore the effects of this innovation on the cargo transportation industry. This study investigates the economic …

A rail-guided robotic system is currently being designed for the inspection of ballast water tanks in ships. This robotic system will manipulate sensors toward the interior walls of the tank. In this paper, the influence of rail compliance on the end-effector position error due to ship movement is investigated. …