NAVWAT 2 - Future High Precision Navigation System for Inland Waterways

The system concept developed in NAVWAT supports the crew of inland vessels in navigating in narrow surroundings, e.g. in the vicinity of locks, bridges and in harbours. The concept uses modern Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) and augmentation infrastructure to provide precise information such as accurate position, velocity and integrity information to the vessel crew. The crew is thus continuously updated on the accurate distance between the hull of the vessel and the riverside infrastructure.

This guarantees that the crew will judge critical navigation situations correctly and reduces risk of collisions with infrastructure. Such applications enable the vessel master to take faster decisions and maximize the quality of Inland Water Transport (IWT) service.

In order to achieve the required navigation performance, NAVWAT 2 needs a modernized GNSS infrastructure – a technology that is not yet available. Nevertheless, the key innovations can already be demonstrated using the existing GNSS infrastructure, including integration with existing inland navigation technologies such as the Inland Automatic Identification System (AIS) and the Inland Electronic Chart Display and Information System (ECDIS). The pilot implementation of the developed system concept was tested on the Danube in the Vienna area.

NAVWAT supports the goals of Directive 2005/44/EC on harmonized River Information Services (RIS), where one focus lies on optimizing the use of the infrastructure and improving safety on European waterways.

Coordinator

TeleConsult Austria GmbH - Klaus Aichhorn

Partners

via donau, Österreichische Wasserstraßen-Gesellschaft mbH - Johannes Nemeth

TeleConsult Austria GmbH
Klaus Aichhorn
Schwarzbauerweg 3
A-8043 Graz
Tel.: +43 (316) 890971 - 12
E-mail: klaus.aichhorn@tca.at
Web: www.tca.at