A documentary following the DFFAS consortium’s efforts over one and a half years to realize a fully autonomous ship has just been released on YouTube.

From 26 February to 1 March, the DFFAS (Designing the Future of Full Autonomous Ship) consortium conducted a successful trial simulating the actual operation of a fully autonomous ship by having the vessel sail a distance of approximately 790 kilometers between Tokyo Bay and Ise Bay.

The DFFAS project brought together 30 leading Japanese companies and approximately 60 companies and organizations in total, including partners in Japan and overseas. Together, they carried out a wide range of trials aimed at bringing fully autonomous ships into real-world operation. Japan Marine Science Inc. served as the lead company of the consortium and was also responsible for developing the autonomous collision-avoidance programme.

The documentary captures the consortium’s ambitious journey towards making fully autonomous ships a reality. Along with footage from the actual demonstration, it provides an in-depth look at the project as a whole, exploring the technologies behind the fully autonomous ships envisioned by the DFFAS consortium, as well as the challenges that need to be addressed for their future real-world deployment. Interviews with project members involved in the various areas offer further insight into the work behind the scenes. Watch the documentary and discover the DFFAS consortium’s journey towards making fully autonomous ships a reality.

(Short version) approx. 8 min.

(Full version) approx. 54 min.
https://youtu.be/Nbx2-18JnJw