Students at Shanghai Maritime University can now practice docking a ship in the city’s recently opened Yangshan Deep-Water Port without any risk of crashing into other boats, buoys or other obstacles.
The university has developed a ship simulator using three-dimensional animation, to train students majoring in navigation and built a virtual replica of the deep-water port for students to practice on.
Installed in the university’s campus navigation lab, the new system collected all basic information about the Yangshan Deep-Water Port “” such as wave, water and wind velocity “” and transferred it into the 3D simulator.
When students practice docking at the port, they will see a simulated video of the port, radar pictures and aeronautical maps on the five screens covering the lab wall.
The video of the port and water ahead look just like what a real captain would see as he pulls his ship into the harbor.
If the students slip up and crash the ship into an obstacle, the picture on the wall will tremble as if a real ship collided with a buoy or reef.
“The biggest highlight of this system is that it could avail students with the whole set of genuine operation environment so that students can get familiar with the new harbor beforehand,” said Xiao Yingjie, vice dean of SMU’s merchant marine college.
Xiao said that the system had collected three-dimensional information about 20 major ports around the world, so students can practice docking at any of those facilities without leaving campus.