A new multi-sensor fusion approach for integrated ship motion perception in inland waterways

The ship motion perception approaches mainly use maritime radar, Automatic Identification System (AIS) and cameras. However, using either of these approaches alone may result in information inconsistency and insufficient data accuracy. Therefore, a multi-sensor fusion perception system is proposed in this study to monitor ship motion in inland waterways. Firstly, a hardware platform of multi-sensor fusion ship motion perception system composed of maritime radar, AIS, cameras and other accessories is constructed. Secondly, by utilizing the target detection and tracking algorithms, track association algorithms, the ship motion data collected from the three sensors are integrated. Finally, the performance of the ship motion perception system is verified by field experiments in day and night. The experimental results indicate that the integrated ship motion perception system with multiple sensors is able to improve the information consistency and data accuracy of ship motion apparently in inland waterway compared to other perception systems.