The present invention relates to shore operation cen- tre workstation for remote monitoring and controlling of unmanned marine vessels.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Unmanned marine vessels are vessels that sail at sea without any crew onboard. Unmanned marine vessels can operate controlled remotely by a human or autonomously the idea being to replace human operators onboard with automation technologies. Also the operation of autono ^¬ mous marine vessels requires human intervention in certain situations. The unmanned marine vessels are controlled by human operators working at a shore oper ^¬ ation centre which is located on shore. In order to enable this, a variety of sensors and cameras must be arranged at the marine vessel to detect and observe the ship status, operation of the various systems of the marine vessel, fault situations, the behavior of the marine vessel and its cargo, motions of the marine vessel, the environment of the marine vessel, waves, weather conditions, other sea traffic for avoidance of collisions etc. An amount of this kind of information must be gathered, processed and transferred to the shore control centre wherein the operator can remotely monitor and control the marine vessel and solve possi ^¬ ble fault conditions. At the shore operation centre one operator can monitor and control several marine vessels. It is important that the operator can have as good as possible situational awareness of the marine vessel in order to enable good decision-making. A workstation of the operator at the shore operation centre must be as ergonomic as possible in order to avoid stress, fatigue and eye strain during the hours of the working day.

OBJECTIVE OF THE INVENTION

It is an objective of the present invention to provide an ergonomic shore operation centre workstation for one operator.

It is also an objective of the present invention to provide an ergonomic layout of the shore operation centre workstation which can effectively reduce fa ^¬ tigue and eye strain of the operator.

It is also an objective of the present invention to provide an ergonomic shore operation centre work ^¬ station having a layout enabling to give the operator a good situational awareness of the marine vessel.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to a first aspect, the present invention provides a shore operation centre workstation for re ^¬ mote monitoring and controlling of unmanned marine vessels. The shore operation centre workstation comprises a main display arrangement arranged as a verti- cal half-cylinder formation to provide a 180-degrees panoramic view for the operator. The shore operation centre workstation further comprises an operator chair arranged symmetrically in relation to a vertical sym ^¬ metry plane of the main display arrangement the center of the radius of the half-cylinder formation of the main display arrangement lying in said symmetry plane, the operator chair being arranged to face towards the main display arrangement. According to the invention the half-cylinder formation of the main display ar- rangement has a radius in a range of 1.5 - 3.5 m. An advantage of the invention is that the workstation is ergonomic as the viewing distance to the main dis ^¬ play arrangement is optimal in terms of avoiding fa ^¬ tigue and eye strain and for providing a possibility to display a seascape as a 180-degrees panorama to give the operator a sense of being at the navigation bridge of the marine vessel.

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work- station, the operator chair is arranged so that an eye- point of the operator seated in the operator chair is at a distance s behind the center of the radius of the half-cylinder formation of the main display arrangement .

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the eye-point of the operator seated in the operator chair is at a distance s = 0.5 m behind the center of the radius of the half-cylinder formation of the main display arrangement.

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the main display arrangement comprises a plu ^¬ rality of flat main displays arranged in said half- cylinder formation.

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the radius is about 2.8 m. In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the eye-point of the operator seated in the operator chair is at a height of 1.595 m from a floor.

In this design the eye-point has been defined by human body measurement definitions in accordance with cur ^¬ rent standards ISO 7250-1 "Basic human body measure ^¬ ments for technological design - Part 1: Body measure- ment definitions and landmarks" and ISO 7250-2 "Basic human body measurements for technological design. Part 2: Statistical summaries of body measurements from in ^¬ dividual ISO populations".

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the operator chair comprises a seat and a backrest having a meeting point with the seat, the meeting point being at a height of 0.8 m from the floor, and that the eye-point of the operator seated in the operator chair is at a height of 0.795 m above the meeting point and at a distance of 0.03 m in front of the meeting point. In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the main display arrangement has a lower edge, and a line-of-sight from the eye-point of the op ^¬ erator to the lower edge forms a vertical angle of 29° downwards from a horizontal plane located at the level of the eye-point of the operator.

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the lower edge is at a height of about 0.1 m from the floor.

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the main display arrangement has an upper edge, and a line-of-sight from the eye-point of the op ^¬ erator to the upper edge forms a vertical angle of 16° upwards from a horizontal plane located at the level of the eye-point of the operator.

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the upper edge is at a height of about 2.53 m from the floor. In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the shore operation centre workstation comprises an upper display arrangement disposed close to the level of the upper edge of the main display ar- rangement .

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the line-of-sight from the eye-point of the operator to a center of the upper display arrangement forms a vertical angle in a range of 20° - 30° in re ^¬ lation to a horizontal plane. The angle depends on the screen size of the upper display arrangement. Prefera ^¬ bly the angle is about 23°. In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the shore operation centre workstation comprises a lower display arrangement disposed closely to the floor. In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the line-of-sight from the eye-point of the operator to a center of the lower display arrangement forms a vertical angle in a range of 27° - 35° in re ^¬ lation to a horizontal plane. The angle depends on the screen size of the lower display arrangement. Prefera ^¬ bly the angle is about 30°.

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the line-of-sight from the eye-point of the operator to the center of the upper display arrange ^¬ ment is at an angle of 90° in relation to a flat sur ^¬ face of the upper display arrangement.

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work- station, the flat lower display arrangement is at an angle in a range of 30°- 40° in relation to a horizon ^¬ tal plane. In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the center of the upper display arrangement is at a horizontal distance of 2.0 m from the eye- point of the operator.

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the center of the the lower display arrange ^¬ ment is at a horizontal distance of 2.3 m from the eye-point of the operator.

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the shore operation centre workstation comprises a chair base on which the operator chair is placed, and that an upper surface of chair base is at a height of 0.35 m from the floor.

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the operator chair is movable back and forth horizontally in the direction of the vertical symmetry plane between a seating mode position and a standing mode position to allow switching between a seating operation mode, wherein the operator is seated in the operator chair, and a standing operation mode, wherein the operator is standing on the chair base in front of the operator chair.

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the shore operation centre workstation com- prises armrests disposed on both sides of the operator chair, and that the armrests are equipped with hand control devices, such as joysticks, touchpads, key ^¬ boards and like, and touch-sensitive displays next to the armrests.

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the armrests are supported by stationary sup- ports which are separate from the operator chair, and that the height position of the armrests is adjustable between a lower seating mode position and an upper standing mode position depending on the selected seat- ing operation mode and the standing operation mode.

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the height position of the armrests is ad ^¬ justable in a range of 0.7 to 1.3 m measured from the upper surface of the chair base.

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the armrests are downwardly inclined, and each armrest comprises a first armrest portion located between the area of the operator's elbow and wrist, which first armrest portion is at a vertical angle of 13° in relation to a horizontal plane, and second arm ^¬ rest portion located at the area of the operator' s wrist and hand, which second armrest portion is at a vertical angle of 26° in relation to a horizontal plane .

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, the hand control devices disposed at the arm- rests are arranged substantially at same distances from the operator's elbow.

In one embodiment of the shore operation centre work ^¬ station, at least a part of the chair base in front of the operator chair moved to a standing mode position, on which part the operator stands in the standing operation mode, is vertically movable to keep the height position of the eye-point of the operator substantial ^¬ ly at a same height position in relation to the eye- point of the operator in the seating operation mode. BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to pro ^¬ vide a further understanding of the invention and constitute a part of this specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and together with the de ^¬ scription help to explain the principles of the inven ^¬ tion. In the drawings:

Figure 1 is an axonometric view of the shore operation centre workstation according to one embodiment of the invention,

Figure 2 is a plan view from above of the workstation of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is a back view in the direction III-III of Figure 2, and

Figure 4 is a side view along IV-IV of Figure 3.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following, description will be made to embodiments of the present invention. It is to be under ^¬ stood, however, that the description is given by way of example only, and that the described embodiments are by no means to be understood as limiting the pre ^¬ sent invention thereto.

Figures 1 to 4 show a shore operation centre work- station 1 for remote monitoring and controlling of unmanned marine vessels. The workstation is designed for one operator. The shore operation centre workstation comprises a main display arrangement 2. The main dis ^¬ play arrangement is arranged as a vertical half- cylinder formation to provide a 180-degrees panoramic view for the operator. The half-cylinder formation has a radius R in a range of 1.5 - 3.5 m. The workstation 1 further comprises an operator chair 3. The operator chair 3 is arranged symmetrically in relation to a vertical symmetry plane L of the main display arrange- ment 2. The center x of the radius of the half- cylinder formation of the main display arrangement 2 lies in the symmetry plane L (see Figures 2 and 3) . The operator chair 3 is arranged to face towards the main display arrangement 2. The main display arrange- ment 2 may comprise a plurality of flat main displays 4 arranged in the half-cylinder formation. In the shown example the number of main display screens 4 is 26. The main display screens 4 are rectangular. Preferably the gap between the adjacently neighboring main dis- play screens 4 is as small as possible.

The operator chair 3 is arranged so that an eye-point e of the operator seated in the operator chair is at a distance s of 0.5 m behind the center x of the radius of the half-cylinder formation of the main display arrangement 2. Preferably the radius R is about 2.8 m. The eye-point e of the operator seated in the operator chair is at a height hi of 1.595 m from a floor F of the workstation 1. In other words, referring to Figure 4, the operator chair 3 comprises a seat 5 and a backrest 6 having a meeting point P with the seat 5. The meeting point P is at a height h ₂ of 0.8 m from the floor F, and that the eye-point e of the operator seat ^¬ ed in the operator chair is at a height .3 of 0.795 m above the meeting point P and at a distance t of 0.03 m in front of the meeting point P.

In the example shown in Figures the radius R is 2.8 m. The main display arrangement 2 has a lower edge 7. The lower edge 7 is at a height h ₄ of about 0.1 m from the floor F. The line-of-sight from the eye-point e of the operator to the lower edge 7 forms a vertical angle a of 29° downwards from a horizontal plane H located at the level of the eye-point e of the operator. The main display arrangement 2 has an upper edge 8. The upper edge 8 is at a height h ₅ of about 2.53 m from the floor F, and a line-of-sight from the eye-point e of the operator to the upper edge 8 forms a vertical angle β of 16° upwards from a horizontal plane H located at the level of the eye-point e of the operator. As can be seen in Figures 1 to 4, the shore operation centre workstation 1 comprises an upper display ar ^¬ rangement 9 disposed close to the level of the upper edge 8 of the main display arrangement 2. Referring to Figure 4, the line-of-sight from the eye-point e of the operator to a center of the upper display arrangement 9 forms a vertical angle γ in a range of 20° - 30° in relation to a horizontal plane. Preferably the angle γ is 23°. The line-of-sight from the eye-point e of the operator to the center of the upper display arrange- ment 9 is at an angle ε of 90° in relation to a flat surface of the upper display arrangement. The center of the upper display arrangement 9 is at a horizontal distance di of 2.0 m from the eye-point e of the opera ^¬ tor .

Further, the shore operation centre workstation 1 comprises a lower display arrangement 10 disposed closely to the floor F. As can be seen in Figure 4, the line- of-sight from the eye-point e of the operator to a cen- ter of the lower display arrangement 10 forms a verti ^¬ cal angle o in a range of 27° - 35° in relation to a horizontal plane. Preferably the angle o is 30°. The center of the lower display arrangement 10 is at a horizontal distance d2 of 2.3 m from the eye-point e of the operator. The lower display arrangement 10 com ^¬ prises one or more flat displays. The lower display arrangement 10 is at an angle Θ in a range of 30°- 40°in relation to a horizontal plane.

Referring to Figures 1 to 4, the shore operation cen- tre workstation 1 comprises a chair base 11 on which the operator chair 3 is placed. An upper surface 12 of the chair base 11 is at a height of 0.35 m from the floor F (Figure 4) . The chair base 11 has two steps each having a height 0,175 m.

The operator chair 3 is preferably adjustable so that the position of the operator chair, the height of the chair, backrest angle, armrest height and the lumbar support are adjustable.

The operator chair 3 is guided to be movable back and forth horizontally in the direction of the vertical symmetry plane L between a seating mode position and a standing mode position. The operator chair 3 can be moved 0.5 m back and forth. The moving of the operator chair be motorized, e.g. by a servomotor which the op ^¬ erator can activate by a button arranged in the arm ^¬ rest. This allows switching between a seating operation mode, wherein the operator is seated in the oper- ator chair, and a standing operation mode, wherein the operator is standing on the chair base 11 in front of the operator chair 3.

The shore operation centre workstation 1 comprises armrests 13 disposed on both sides of the operator chair 3. The armrests 13 are equipped with hand con ^¬ trol devices 14, such as joysticks, touchpads, key ^¬ boards, thruster levers, pushbuttons, mouse and like, and touch-sensitive displays 15. The angle and height of the touch-sensitive displays 15 is preferably ad ^¬ justable. Main control devices are preferably located on the inner side while the secondary ones are on the outer side. Small touch-sensitive display screens may be arranges next to the armrests and the vertical an ^¬ gle may be 25° from the horizontal thus enhancing the ergonomics. Bigger touch screens having a size of the order of 12 - 22" are preferably arranged near the main control levers. The armrests 13 may also have soft areas, preferably a padding having a thickness of

25 mm. The armrests 13 are preferably supported by stationary supports 16 which are separate from the operator chair

3 to allow individual adjustment. The height position of the armrests 13 is adjustable between a lower seat ^¬ ing mode position and an upper standing mode position depending on the selected seating operation mode and the standing operation mode of the operator chair 3. The height position of the armrests 13 is adjusta ^¬ ble in a range of 0.7 to 1.3 m measured from the upper surface 12 of the chair base 11.

When switching from the seating mode to the standing mode the operator chair 3 moves back. The armrests 13 rise to the needed height depending on the operator. When the operator stands the eye level rises 0.30 - 0.45 m depending on the operator. If the height position of the chair base 11 is accordingly adjustable by lowering the standing base then the rising of the eye level can be avoided. The armrests 13 are downwardly inclined. As illustrat ^¬ ed in Figure 4, both armrests comprise a first armrest portion 17 located between the area of the operator's elbow and wrist, which first armrest portion 17 is in ^¬ clined at a vertical angle of 13° in relation to a horizontal plane. The armrests 13 also comprise a sec ^¬ ond armrest portion 18 located in front of the first armrest portion 17 at the area of the operator's wrist and hand. The second armrest portion is inclined at a vertical angle of 26° in relation to a horizontal plane. The hand control devices 14 disposed at the armrests 13 are arranged substantially at same dis- tances from the operator's elbow.

A part of the chair base 11, or the whole chair base, may be vertically movable, i.e. can be raised and low ^¬ ered, to keep the height position of the eye-point e of the operator who is standing substantially at a same height in relation to the height of the eye-point of the operator in the seating operation mode.

Although the invention has been the described in con- junction with a certain type of the shore operation workstation, it should be understood that the inven ^¬ tion is not limited to any certain type. While the present inventions have been described in connection with a number of exemplary embodiments, and implemen- tations, the present inventions are not so limited, but rather cover various modifications, and equivalent arrangements, which fall within the purview of pro ^¬ spective claims.