Requirements Assessment and Safety Analysis for Automated Navigation in Inland Waterways: Means to Minimize Accidents´ Likelihood

Héctor Llorca, Marcos López, Marta Cueto, Fulgencio Buendía, Omjyoti Dutta, Florin Mistrapau, Daniel Karbach, Yves Hacha, Falk Bethke, Csaba Hargitai, Gergely Mezo, Marta Wolska, Carmen Aguilera

Abstract:	Inland navigation plays a significant role in the transportation, trade and economic development of many countries. Inland waterways provide a cost-effective and environmentally friendly mode of transport for goods and passengers, reducing road congestion and carbon emissions. The topic of automated operations is raising significant interest in the transportation sector, particularly concerning autonomous vessels. These sea-based solutions hold great promise for a variety of maritime applications, and particularly in Inland Waterways (IWW). At the same time minimizing human involvement in vessel operations, autonomous vessels can significantly improve efficiency and safety within these waterways. Furthermore, the use of advanced navigation systems allows for safer and optimized routes, thereby reducing idle time and improving energy efficiency. Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) and Earth Observation (EO) are technologies that present great potential for innovation in automation solutions. In this context, the European Commission launched a 3-year project, called AVIS (Automated Vessels on European Inland Waterways), whose main objective is to analyse how EU Space Data (EGNSS and Copernicus) can be used for Automated Vessels on European IWW. This project, fully funded by the European Union, studies this case from different perspectives, performing a requirements assessment, developing a safety case, defining a Concept of Operation (CONOPS), carrying out pilot tests, and collaborating on the standardization of autonomous navigation in dedicated working groups. AVIS is led by GMV, and the consortium is made up of several companies and IWW national authorities. This includes WSV, TRESCO, BM, HAC, RSOE and EY. The result is that the group is made up of a large number of experts in inland navigation and GNSS and EO technologies, with different and complementary strengths. The objective of this paper is to show the advances in the study that have been developed during the first year and a half of the project. Special emphasis is placed on providing the main outcomes achieved so far on: • the analysis of requirements for IWW autonomous navigation • the identification of gaps that satellite systems such as from the EU Space Programme present today to meet those requirements • the CONOPS solution proposed by the AVIS project to achieve autonomous navigation • the safety analysis specifically performed for IWW automated navigation using GNSS and EO. Special emphasis is placed on the Accuracy maps that are being generated using collaborative information from AIS technology. Further details on each of the aforementioned aspects are provided in the following sections
Published in:	Proceedings of the 38th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2025) September 8 - 12, 2025 Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor Baltimore, Maryland
Pages:	380 - 392
Cite this article:	Llorca, Héctor, López, Marcos, Cueto, Marta, Buendía, Fulgencio, Dutta, Omjyoti, Mistrapau, Florin, Karbach, Daniel, Hacha, Yves, Bethke, Falk, Hargitai, Csaba, Mezo, Gergely, Wolska, Marta, Aguilera, Carmen, "Requirements Assessment and Safety Analysis for Automated Navigation in Inland Waterways: Means to Minimize Accidents´ Likelihood," Proceedings of the 38th International Technical Meeting of the Satellite Division of The Institute of Navigation (ION GNSS+ 2025), Baltimore, Maryland, September 2025, pp. 380-392. https://doi.org/10.33012/2025.20352
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