FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a method,

attentiveness indicator device and computer program product for providing an indication of a level of attentiveness required for a user on a vessel. BACKGROUND

Vessels such as airplanes and ships have become more and more sophisticated with a lot of different computer systems for handling various functions.

Ships are furthermore often controlled via a bridge, from where the navigation takes place.

The bridge of the ship may be surrounded by windows for the crew of the ship to be able to visually observe the environment .

The ships of today are furthermore provided with control computers and user interface screens for visualizing information related to navigation, voyage and ship management systems, where it is possible to display alarm data.

JP 2011-2276091 does for instance relate to a bridge alarm device, where type or level of an alarm is to be generated for a monitored aspect.

Another important aspect on a bridge is the weather. TW 201118764 discusses classifying ship escape criteria in four groups or levels. The document is directed towards determining the likelihood of avoiding a typhoon based on ship speed, typhoon severity and speed as well as distance between ship and typhoon.

JP 5-223585 discusses determining different alarm levels based on distance to an obstruction and sector- angle values. Alarms thus seem to be generated based on the direction of movement of a ship and the position of the obstruction.

There also exist various land based risk indication systems. Such systems are for instance described in WO 2011/027037 and WO 2004/053814.

Ship operations on bridges today also require more attention from the personnel when entering or leaving a harbour compared to when out on the sea. In most cases, normal operations during the voyages means that the personnel at a ship keep watch and steer it away from obstacles (other ships) as they come and maintain on course .

A ship does often cover long distances and the amount of activity on the bridge may vary considerably.

In a typical scenario the personnel at the bridge and/or in control rooms have 4 to 6 hour shifts. It is then hard to keep a high concentration due to the lack of activity. The people on watch are not allowed to play games or do something else to pass their time instead, but have to be attentive in case an abnormal situation arises. The challenge is therefore to keep the people on watch attentive and informed of possible abnormal situations that might occur.

There are a number of problems that can occur in the above-mentioned situation:

• The personnel may have long periods of low activity. Boredom due to long inactive periods can lead to diverted attention of the people on the watch.

• The visibility is often lower during

dusk/night or during bad weather conditions. At nights or in less light, it becomes difficult to visually identify other vessels.

· There is no early warning mechanism. Radars and other displays are consulted throughout the watch. If something is missed, there is no warning mechanism to indicate to the people at watch that they should be extra attentive.

There is therefore a need for improvement on this situation .

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention addresses this situation. The invention is therefore directed towards solving the problem of providing an improvement in relation to helping users of vessels to be attentive.

This object is according to a first aspect of the invention solved through a method of providing an indication of a level of attentiveness required for a user on a vessel, the vessel comprising a group of computers providing data of different types employed in the navigation of the vessel, the method being

performed by an attentiveness indicator device in the vessel and comprising the steps of:

obtaining various types of vessel handling data from the computers, the vessel handling data comprising internal vessel data and environmental data, where the environmental data is related to an area

associated with the position of the vessel, the internal vessel data also comprising internal vessel data of one type and the environmental data

comprising environmental data of a corresponding type, wherein a first type of internal vessel data is an own course and a corresponding first type of environmental data is surrounding vessel courses, the internal vessel data further comprising vessel health data,

processing vessel handling data, the processing comprising comparing internal vessel data and corresponding environmental data for obtaining aggregate vessel handling data, where the aggregate vessel handling data for the first type of internal vessel data comprises a count of the surrounding vessels having courses that cross the own course, weighting vessel handling data in dependence of importance,

combining the vessel handling data for obtaining an attentiveness value,

- comparing the attentiveness value with at least one threshold, assigning an attentiveness level to the

attentiveness value based on the comparison, and presenting the attentiveness level to the user in order to provide an indication of the attentiveness required .

This object is according to a second aspect of the invention solved through a attentiveness indicator device providing an indication of a level of

attentiveness required for a user on a vessel, the vessel comprising a group of computers providing data of different types employed in the navigation of the vessel, the attentiveness indicator device being provided in the vessel and configured to:

obtain various types of vessel handling data from the computers, the vessel handling data comprising internal vessel data and environmental data, where the environmental data is related to an area

associated with the position of the vessel, the internal vessel data comprising internal vessel data of one type and the environmental data comprising environmental data of a corresponding type, wherein a first type of internal vessel data is an own course and a corresponding first type of

environmental data is surrounding vessel courses, the internal vessel data further comprising vessel health data,

compare internal vessel data and corresponding environmental data for obtaining aggregate vessel handling data, where the aggregate vessel handling data for the first type of internal vessel data comprises a count of the surrounding vessels having courses that cross the own course, weight vessel handling data in dependence of

importance,

combine the vessel handling data for obtaining an attentiveness value,

compare the attentiveness value with at least one threshold,

assign an attentiveness level to the attentiveness value based on the comparison, and

present the attentiveness level to the user in order to provide an indication of the attentiveness required .

This object is according to a third aspect of the invention achieved through computer program product for providing an indication of a level of attentiveness required for a user on a vessel, the vessel comprising a group of computers providing data of different types employed in the navigation of the vessel, said computer program product being provided on a data carrier comprising computer program code configured to cause an attentiveness indicator device provided in the vessel to, when said computer program code is loaded into the attentiveness indicator device

obtain various types of vessel handling data from said computers, the vessel handling data comprising internal vessel data and environmental data, where the environmental data is related to an area

associated with the position of the vessel, the internal vessel data comprising internal vessel data of one type and the environmental data comprising environmental data of a corresponding type, wherein a first type of internal vessel data is an own course and a corresponding first type of

environmental data is surrounding vessel courses, the internal vessel data further comprising vessel health data,

- compare internal vessel data and corresponding

environmental data for obtaining aggregate vessel handling data, where the aggregate vessel handling data for the first type of internal vessel data comprises a count of the surrounding vessels having courses that cross the own course,

weight vessel handling data in dependence of

importance,

combine the vessel handling data for obtaining an attentiveness value,

- compare the attentiveness value with at least one threshold,

assign an attentiveness level to the attentiveness value based on the comparison, and

present the attentiveness level to the user in order to provide an indication of the attentiveness required .

The present invention has a number of advantages. It gathers data from several different sources for

providing one value indicative of required alertness. In this way the users are relieved from manually gathering and evaluating the data from the different sources. The invention also allows the users to better prioritize the attentiveness they use when continuously surveying the environment. In this way it is possible to have a high degree of concentration when it is really necessary and a lower degree of concentration when it is not, which enables the users to be more focused when a high degree of attentiveness is actually required, for instance at the end of a shift.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will in the following be

described with reference being made to the accompanying drawings, where

Fig. 1 schematically shows a vessel in the form of a ship having a bridge,

Fig. 2 schematically shows the bridge comprising a number of windows and a computer functioning as an attentiveness indicator device,

Fig. 3 schematically shows a computerized control system controlling various operations of the ship and including the attentiveness indicator device,

Fig. 4 shows a flow chart of a number of method steps being performed in a method of providing an indication of a level of required attentiveness,

Fig. 5 shows a first way of presenting a level of attentiveness,

Fig. 6 shows a second way of presenting a level of attentiveness,

Fig. 7 shows a third way of presenting a level of attentiveness, and

Fig. 8 schematically shows a data carrier with computer program code, in the form of a CD-ROM disc, for

performing the steps of the method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION In the following, a detailed description of preferred embodiments of a method, attentiveness indication device attentiveness indicator device and computer program product for providing an indication of a level of attentiveness required for a user on a vessel will be given.

Fig. 1 schematically shows a vessel exemplified by a ship 10. The ship 10 shown in fig. 1 comprises a rudder 11, a propeller 12 as well as a radar 15. The propeller 12 is also connected to an engine (not shown) in order to propel the ship forward or backward. In order to control the propeller 12 and engine as well as the rudder 11, the ship 10 is also provided with a bridge 13, where various aspects of the ship 10 can be

controlled. The rudder 11, propeller 12, engine and radar 15 are examples of entities used in relation to the navigation or steering of the ship 10.

Fig. 2 schematically shows the bridge 13. The bridge comprises three windows 14, 16 and 18, a first front window 14 facing the bow, a second starboard side window 16 and a third port side window 18. The windows are thus placed on the bridge 13. On the bridge there is also a bridge computer 20 with a display 22. The bridge computer 20 is according to some variations of the invention used for forming an attentiveness indicator device. On the display 22 there is shown an attentiveness level indicator 24, which will be

described in more detail later. This may be shown as a symbol or icon in order to signal a level of

attentiveness required by the personnel on the bridge. All the windows may face a view used in the control, which in the case of the bridge is the waters through which the ship is to move. Fig. 3 shows a block schematic of a simplified control system 26 for controlling the ship. The control system 26 is a computerized control system.

In fig. 3 the control system includes a number of work stations. In this example only one is shown, which is the above-mentioned bridge computer 20. It should however be realized that there may be several work stations for instance in other areas of the ship. The bridge computer 20 is connected to a data bus Bl .

There are furthermore a group of vessel handling computers connected to the bus 1, which computers are provided for handling various aspects of the vessel, such as navigation and security aspects. These

computers more particularly provide data of different types employed in the navigation of the vessel.

There is here a first control computer 28, a

forecasting computer 30, a tracking computer 32, a chart computer 34 and a sensor handling computer 36 and external indications computer 37. These computers are involved in handling various aspects of the ship. The first control computer 28 may be involved with

controlling navigation steering using the rudder and controlling direction and speed through controlling the propeller. For this reason it is connected to the engine 38 and to the rudder 11. The forecasting computer 30 is a computer used for keeping track of the weather and receives weather forecast data from weather forecast services. The data may comprise weather forecasts such as forecasts of low pressure areas, their movements and their wind speeds. This computer 30 is therefore used for keeping track of weather changes and the movement of weather systems such as the

movement of storms. The tracking computer 32 is used for tracking other vessels and is therefore connected to the radar 15. This computer 32, which may be part of an Automatic Identification (AIS) system, is thus used for keeping track of mobile objects in the environment. The chart computer 34 comprises navigation charts of the waters through which the ship is to move. The chart computer 34 therefore keeps track of stationary objects or obstacles in the environment. The chart computer 34 may also comprise route data, i.e. data defining a route that the ship is to take. The sensor control computer 36 is provided for

receiving sensor data such as position data, speed data and depth data of the vessel, i.e. how deep into the water the vessel runs. However also other sensors may be provided, such a sensors sensing the condition or health of vital elements of the ship. They are thus provided for sensing ship or vessel health data.

Finally the external indications computer 37 is

provided for receiving external indications such as piracy indications and/or International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) security indications. There may also be a control computer involved in ship management, such as controlling ventilation and lights.

The bridge 13 of the ship is surrounded by the windows 14, 16 and 18 for the crew of the ship to be able to visually observe the environment of the ship. The bridge may comprise a main bridge and possibly two wing bridges on the port and starboard sides in order to enable support to be given to the captain or navigator as he or she manoeuvres the ship in a harbour.

User interface screens for visualizing information related to navigation, voyage and ship management systems may be located around the bridge so that they are visible when a crew member is seated or standing next to a pilot chair/station. In this setting there may furthermore be meters above the windows . A crew member standing at the main bridge, can then also look at the meters to see different values related to velocity, pitch, etc.

Ship operations on bridges today require more attention from the personnel when entering or leaving the harbour compared to when out on the sea. In most cases, normal operations during the voyages means that the personnel at ship keep watch and steer the ship away from

obstacles such as other ships.

In a typical scenario the personnel at the bridge and/or in a control room may have 4 to 6 hour shifts.

It is in this situation hard to keep the same amount of concentration the whole time. It is often not needed: However, it is hard for a user to know when it is time to be more concentrated and when it is possible to be more relaxed, i.e. relaxed while still having a

sufficient attentiveness . The people on watch are not allowed to play games or do something else to pass their time instead but have to be attentive in case an abnormal situation arises. The challenge, thus, is to keep the people on watch attentive and informed of possible abnormal situations that might occur. The problem with this current situation can be

described in the following way:

• There are often long periods of low activity.

Boredom due to long inactive periods can lead to diverted attention of the people on the watch.

· At night or at dusk/dawn there is furthermore a lower visibility than during the day. The visibility may also be low during bad weather conditions. Then it may become difficult to visually identify other vessels in the area.

· Thus so far there has not been provided any really good early warning mechanism. There has also not existed any warning mechanism that is based on several types of data and providing several warning levels. Radars and other displays are consulted throughout the watch. However, if something is missed, there is no warning mechanism to indicate to the people at watch.

The invention is provided for addressing at least some of these issues.

A method according to a first embodiment of the

invention will now be described with reference being made also to fig. 4. The method according to this first embodiment simplifies for the users on the bridge to know when to be highly concentrated and when to be more relaxed . The different computers 28 - 37 provide vessel handling data VHD of different types. The first control computer 28 does for instance provide rudder data and engine data and the sensor computer 36 provides speed and position data. The sensor computer 36 also provides data about the functioning or health of the ship, such as engine temperature and ventilation. The tracking computer 32 provides data about other ships in the vicinity. The external indications computer may in turn provide piracy warning data and ISPS alert level data. The forecasting computer 30 may provide forecasting data about the weather and the chart provides

information about obstacles in the area, such as reefs, sea depth. There is furthermore time data, such as time of day data, which may be provided by any of the computers, such as the chart computer 34 and sensor control computer 36. The time of day data may also be provided by the bridge computer 20 forming the

attentiveness indicator device. In one embodiment of the invention vessel handling data VHD from these computers 28 - 37 is provided to the attentiveness indicator device 20 in relation to an area associated with the current position of the ship, which may be an area essentially in front of the ship in the direction of movement. The area may in one embodiment be a circle that has a point touching the nose of the ship, with the nose pointing at the centre of the circle. It should however be realized that other types of geometrical figures may be used such as a triangle or an ellipse. The ship may also be provided in the centre of the area. The attentiveness indicator device 20 may thus obtain several types of vessel handling data VHD from the computers 28 - 37, step 44, for instance related to the above mentioned area. Some of the vessel handling data VHD may here be environmental data, where the

environmental data, which is data related to the exterior or environment of the vessel may be related to the above-mentioned area associated with the position of the vessel. The environmental data received from the tracking computer 32 may comprise a count of the number of other ships in the area. The environmental data from the chart computer 34 may comprise a count of the number of obstacles in the area as well as sea bed depth data and own course data, i.e. data about the course of the ship 10 and the environmental data from the forecasting computer 30 may comprise data of the weather conditions in the area.

Some of the vessel handling data may be internal vessel data, i.e. data related to the vessel itself. Internal vessel data from the first control computer 28 may comprise engine speed and rudder position data and internal vessel data from the sensor control computer 36 may comprise position data, speed data, vessel depth data as well as the energy consumption. Also the chart computer 34 may provide internal vessel data in the form of own course data, i.e. data about the course of the ship 10. The position data, which sets out the own position of the ship 10, may be used for determining the above- mentioned area. The environmental data may furthermore also comprise piracy indications and ISPS alert level data from the external indications computer 37. Yet another type of vessel handling data is time data, such as time of day and weekday. This data may be provided by the attentiveness indicator device 20 itself. Some of the vessel handling data VHD may here be further processed by the attentiveness indicator device 20, step 45. The further processing may more

particularly involve comparing internal vessel data of one type and environmental data of the same or a corresponding type for obtaining aggregate vessel handling data.

One type of internal vessel data may for instance be the vessel depth and the corresponding type of

environmental data would then be the sea bed dept. The attentiveness indicator device 20 may for instance determine aggregate vessel handling data for this type of internal vessel data comprising the difference between the sea bed depth and vessel depth in the area.

Another type of internal vessel handling data may be the own course and the corresponding type of

environmental data would then be surrounding vessel courses. In this case it is thus possible that the tracking computer 32 determines the courses of the other vessels and these courses may thus be compared with the own course. It is also possible that the risk of collision with another vessel having a course crossing the own course is estimated. The attentiveness indicator device 20 may for instance determine the aggregate vessel handling data as a count of the number of courses that cross the own course. It is also possible to determine if there is a deviation from the own course, which deviation is ideally zero. It is furthermore possible to determine the trim of the vessel. The time of day data may also be further processed, such that one value is provided for a time when there is night and another when the time is in the day, with values in-between being provided for dusk and dawn .

All different types of vessel handling data VHD, directly received and processed, may then be normalised by the attentiveness indicator device, step 46, so that they have the same value range, for instance between zero and one. Data that is deemed more important may also be weighted, step 48. The attentiveness indicator device 20 may thus weight the vessel handling data in dependence of importance, where the weighting depending on importance may comprise providing a higher weight to data relating to safety than other data. The piracy warning may for instance be given a higher weight than the energy consumption data. It is also possible that the course intersection count and a collision risk estimation are given a high priority.

The vessel handling data VHD is then combined by the attentiveness handling device 20 and in this case the normalized and weighted data are added in order to form or obtain an attentiveness value AV, step 50. A sum of the possibly normalized and weighted different types of data may thus be obtained. It should here be realized that it is possible with other types of combinations, such as logical combinations, like AND or OR

operations. The attentiveness value AV is then compared with a number of thresholds comprising at least one threshold in order to obtain a level of attentiveness that is required, step 52. An attentiveness level AL is thereafter assigned to attentiveness value AV based on the comparison, step 54. The thresholds may comprise at least one threshold and in a first example there are three thresholds, while in a second example there are four thresholds. If the value is below a threshold then a certain attentiveness level is assigned, while if the value is above the threshold another attentiveness level is assigned. The levels LI, L2, L3, L4 and L5 can be discreet numbers, such as one, two, three, four and five. However they may also be letters such as A, B, C and D . It is for instance possible that if the attentiveness value is below a first threshold then a first level LI is assigned, while if it is above the first threshold but below a second threshold then a second level L2 is assigned. Is the value instead above the second

threshold, but below a third threshold, then a third level L3 may be assigned, while if the value is above the third threshold but below a fourth threshold then a fourth level L4 may be assigned. If finally the value is above the forth threshold then a fifth level L5 may be assigned. The assigned attentiveness level is then presented to the users on the bridge 13 in order to provide an indication of the attentiveness required, step 56. The possible levels can be graphically presented in various ways. They may for instance be presented in a pyramid 24A, with the assigned level being highlighted, such as is indicated in fig. 5. The levels may also be presented in vertical stack 24B as is indicated in fig. 6. They may also be shown in a horizontal row 24C as is indicated in fig. 24C. It can in fig. 5, 6 and 7 be seen the assigned attentiveness level is exemplified by the second level L2. It can in this way be seen that the attentiveness level AL can be presented for the users on the bridge 13 via the display 22 and in this way it is possible for the personnel on the bridge to better prioritize the attentiveness they use when continuously surveying the environment. In this way it is possible to have a high degree of concentration when it is really necessary and lower degree of concentration when it is not, which enables the users to be more focused when a high degree of attentiveness is actually required, which may be at the end of a shift.

There are a number of different variations that can be made of the present invention. The attentiveness indicator device may be implemented using software. It may thus be implemented using computer program code, which may be provided on one or more data carriers which performs the functionality of the attentiveness indicator device when the program code thereon is being loaded into the bridge computer. One such data carrier 58 with computer program code 60, in the form of a CD ROM disc, is schematically shown in fig. 8. Such computer program may as an alternative be provided on another server and downloaded therefrom into the bridge computer.

The invention is not limited to ships, but may be used with other vessels, such as aeroplanes. It is also possible that the attentiveness is linked to one type vessel handling data, for instance to the speed. The speed may be used to weight a number of the data types differently. At least some weights may thus depend on the speed of the vessel. It is for instance possible that the count of other vessels in the area, the count of obstacles and sea level depth may receive a weight that is higher because of a higher speed. Another possible piece of vessel handling data that may be used in this way is the time of day. At least some weights May thus depend on the time of day. One weight may be used during the day, another higher weight at night and a range of weights in-between at dusk and at dawn. The weights may also here be provided for selected types of vessel handling data. The time of day weighting may also be combined with speed weighting.

Another variation is that it is possible to determine a future alert level, for instance a required level of attentiveness one hour ahead. The vessel handling data may thus comprise predicted vessel handling data and the obtaining, weighting in dependence of importance and comparing is then performed for obtaining a

predicted attentiveness value. This may be done based on a predicted area of the vessel, which area may be predicted based on the course and speed of the vessel. The obstacles in this area are then typically known and also piracy warning level and IPSS warning level may be known in advance. The weather in the area may be predicted in a known way and also the number of other vessels may be predicted based on the time of day, week day and known history data about how many vessels have been in that particular area at a corresponding earlier time. The other vessels may in this way thus be

determined based on vessel statistics of the area.

This invention provides the personnel on watch during shift hours or otherwise an indicator that reports the level of "seriousness" or attentiveness required at any given hour. It alerts the personnel to be more

proactive and involved in their operations based on the time of day, type of operations being carried out, weather, presence of other vessels in the area and other information that can be useful in avoiding an accident or abnormal situation. All this information may be concentrated in a minimalistic display which gives "at-a-glance" status of the current situation. Thus, informing the personnel about the seriousness of the situation.

The information from different system already on-board vessels can be collected and based on the time of day, marine traffic in the area, weather conditions, vessel speed etc., the alertness level may be calculated by a formula that assigns weightage too all these parameters and calculates the level of alertness required. In addition to visual display the attentiveness

required can be indicated with additional sounds to get the attention of the users. The lighting on the bridge or control room can be changed to represent a relaxed situation or one that requires alertness. The time of day may also have to be considered when changing lighting . When an alert level goes up and down, the attentiveness indicator device may also show a detail message

explaining why the levels have changed, for example because the vessel enters a harbour or travels in a specific area of the sea where there is more traffic etc.

The invention has several further advantages apart form those already mentioned.

• It provides an at a glance awareness of the situation on the bridge. The alertness indication used makes the people at the bridge or anyone entering the bridge immediately aware of the current activity on the sea and on-board.

• The information used for the alertness indication may be real-time and constantly updated so that the personnel can regain focus as soon as there is an escalation from a low alert situation to a high alert situation.

• The invention allows the provision of a high abstraction level with easy access of more details. The alertness indicator provided an overview and triggers the personnel to look for detailed information as soon as it has a high level. When this is not this case, the personnel at the bridge can focus on other things.

· The invention forces personnel to be

attentive. A visual indication of a high alert level immediately requires the operators to take action, thus making them attentive while at watch.