Call For Project
Relayed AIS Transponder
Publishing a Cloud-connected Vehicle’s position through the AIS Ground Station Network
The Swedish Sea Rescue Society is exploring how to launch a fleet of small, remotely operated drones to improve situational awareness for Search & Rescue (SAR) missions. Please see Providence – UAV system to support Search and Rescue for more on that!
To enhance cooperation with other SAR units like helicopters and rescue boats we would like to publish the drone’s position on the AIS network, but we would like to avoid having to carry a physical AIS transponder onboard.
Luckily, the drones will be controlled by a Cloud service via cell networks. This means that all necessary information (id, call sign, position, altitude, course and speed) will be available in the cloud. If this information can be reformatted into the proper AIS format, it can then – with permission from the network operator, be pushed to the national AIS  servers to be broadcast from the regional AIS Ground Station.
To ships and aircraft equipped with AIS transponders the drone will appear as if it was carrying a transponder, but we will save precious weight and power consumption which translates into greater endurance.
This project is a call for help with building the service that that pulls position data from the Cloud Service, converts it to the AIS message format and pushes the messages to the Ground Station Network Servers.
We can supply contact with experts who can answer questions about the detailed workings of the Cloud Service and the AIS servers and message formats.
Here is a link to the document that guides the AIS system: ITU Recommendation – Technical characteristics for an automatic identification system using time division multiple access in the VHF maritime mobile frequency band
Who is behind the project?
This is a project from the Innovation office at Swedish Sea Rescue Society, SSRS. The SSRS is a non-profit organization that performs the majority of sea rescues in Sweden thanks to some 2000 volunteers . Our constitution says that we are to:
- Further the interest in sea rescue matters
- Propose ways to improve sea rescue
- Perform sea rescue operations
The person proposing this project is me, Fredrik Falkman. I’m an industrial designer by training working for the SSRS with development projects and general innovation.
Contact
If you have any questions about this project, you can send the project owner a message from here.
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