Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS)

Vessel Traffic Management System (VTMS) Literature Review The aim of this chapter is to capture the main idea of the research in depth and provide a review on literature related to the study and go through the ideas of various authors towards the relevancy of the study and establish the need for the research. 2.1 Evolution Vessel Traffic Management System A vessel traffic management system (VTMS) is a nautical vessel movement observing system established by harbor or port authorities. According to TRANSAS (2014) the VTMS system utilizes information collected by advanced sensors, for example, radar, AIS, closed-circuit television (CCTV), Meteo-Hydro and other electronic object detection systems. The primary purpose of VTMS is to improve the safety and efficiency of navigation, improve features of port services, protection of life at sea and the safeguard marine environment. In 1946 a demonstration was done in order to identify the helpfulness of coast based radar system in Liverpool. The initial effort in developing harbour controlled radar was done by establishing a system at the end of Victoria Pier, Douglas, Isle of Man in 1948. (Hughes, 2009) With the rapid growth of marine industry marine safety and efficient navigation has been addressed as one of the issues that have major consideration. Different methods for improving the marine safety have been developed the past few decades. Some of them can be stated as radio-communications, navigation rules, electronic chart systems and identification systems. (Goralski, Ray, Gold, 2011) Goralski et al. (2011) further describes that most recent technological developments in improving vessel traffic management includes radar, electronic charting like Electronic Chart Display Information Systems, (ECDIS), vessel traffic control and management (VTMS) and automatic identification system (AIS) and communication. Several sources of data are combined from sensors such as GPS, radar and AIS in order to improve the vessel traffic monitoring. The final objective of this is offer more precise understanding of the navigational situations. Many developed countries utilize the services of highly sophisticated VTMS. The Port of London is one of the UKs busiest ports utilize an exceptionally advanced VTMS. In this VTMS the data from radars are associated with a mass of other data inside a very advanced computer system. This gives an ongoing picture and a thorough record of all developments at Port of London. (Goldman, 2011) 2.2 Vessel Traffic Management Systems in Commercial Setting As described by Goralski, Ray, Gold, (2011) many researchers have presented theories of developing an efficient vessel monitoring systems. The need for diminishing human error and decreasing the number and danger of accidents at sea is a need to be addressed. Developing such system to be used in real-time situations is a challenging task. Not much research has been done in this area. The world’s first three dimensional ECDIS prototype was demonstrated in Brest in 2007. This was a research led by Dr. Rafal Goralski and his team. It’s possible to incorporate data from many sensors around a port to produce a real time three dimensional traffic management visualization tool. (Goralski, Ray, Gold, 2011) As stated by Goralski, Ray, Gold, (2011) an interface has been developed and presently being trialed in the Port of Milford Haven. This system is used in real-time for navigation observing and control. The system is considered to be the first commercial operation of a 3D VTS. Transas Marine Limited and GeoVS Limited offer 3D vessel traffic monitoring solutions. Transas Group is a worldwide pioneer in marine navigation systems. Transas presented its initial 3D vessel activity monitoring system to the business in 2008. This system gives most extreme backing to VTS administrators. (TRANSAS, 2011). Sri Lankas first home-developed vessel movement administration system was the result of investigation led by the modeling and simulation group of University of Colombo, School of Computing. The system includes two dimensional and three dimensional views of the harbor. The three dimensional VTMS was established at the Colombo-South harbor in 5th August 2013. (UCSC,2014) 2.3 Need for more improved Vessel Traffic Management System The commercial 3D VTMS that were mentioned above are closed proprietary and extremely expensive solutions. This fact raised the need to implement a novel vessel traffic monitoring solution. The modeling and simulation group of University of Colombo, School of Computing developed the Sri Lankas first home-developed vessel movement administration system. This proposed and developed solution is entirely based on the free and open source structures (Sandaruwan, et al. 2013). There are limitations of the existing solution. In the existing solution, real-time movements of the ships can be visualized. However in the existing solution the path of a moving ship is not continuous. Goldman (2011) discussed that one of the major considerations in improving the VTMS is to enhance the use of Automated Identification System (AIS). The objective is to provide more data about the vessel’s positions. Furthermore a significant feature of the VTMS upgrading has been to further increase the continuity of the vessel display and resilience. In a research carried by Popovich, Christophe, Vasily, Cyril, Tianzhen, Dmitry, (2009) states that some of the important issues to consider in VTMS. The concerns are operability, accuracy and completeness of moving and positioning of vessels. Moreover a key problem in the vessel’s location estimation is addressed. That is in the occasions where the estimated location is different with the actual location of the vessel, and then the system should avoid such circumstances. 2.4 Automatic Identification System (AIS) The SOLAS (Safety of Life at Sea) Convention by the IMO (International Maritime Organization). According to that the Automatic Identification System (AIS) is an automatic system utilized on ships and other vessels for distinguishing and finding vessels by electronically trading information with other adjacent vessels, AIS base stations, and satellites. AIS play a vital role in managing vessel traffic and improving maritime security. Vessel engaged in international voyages AIS is required from registered tonnage (RT) of 300. A vessel travelling in national waters AIS is required from registered tonnage (RT) of 500. (SOLAS Chapter v, 2002) AIS information is classified as 2 types of information static and dynamic. Vessel name, call sign, MMSI number (user ID), IMO number, dimension, type of the ship are static information. Position, course over ground, speed over ground, true heading, rate of turn are dynamic information. (Vesseltracker, n.d.) AIS transponders naturally transmit information at regular intervals through a VHF radio incorporated with the AIS. The position and speed originate from the ships GPS or, if that comes up short, from another GPS receiver. Other information is incorporated when AIS transponder is installed on the ship. (Weatherdock, 2014) The AIS signals are then received by other shore-based facilities like VTMS or nearby vessels. The received information is then used to display ships on two dimensional marine charts. This helps to observe ships activities. This enables ports and coastal states to recognize ships in their waters and regulate the vessel activity. (Weatherdock, n.d.) . In Sri Lanka such receivers located at Colombo and Mirissa, receive AIS signals emitted from vessel at Colombo harbour. This information is used to display the vessel on two dimensional marine charts. The ships are represented by arrow heads. 2.5 Applications of AIS There certain usages in AIS data. To enhance security nautical activities To safeguard the maritime surroundings To support collision avoidance. To manage vessel traffic in busy harbors. 2.6 State Estimation Problems The objective is to estimate the states of a dynamic system sequentially, utilizing set of noisy measurements. Orlande et al. (2012) describes that in state estimation problems, the accessible measured information is utilized together with prior learning of the physical phenomena. This task is undertaken by minimising the error. There are many applications in state estimations numerous fields. Orlande et al. (2012) describes that the position of an aircraft can be found using estimation. Also it may also be possible to locate the position using GPS system and altimeter. Usually these measurements are not always accurate. In state estimation combines the model predictions and GPS measurements to obtain more accurate estimates of air craft position. This idea can be incorporated in the research since the measurements are available during the course of the ship. It is possible to make estimations for the locations of the ship for the places where measurements are missing. Also it is possible to check whether the estimations are reliable with the measurements. 2.7 Kalman Filter The Kalman Filter also known as linear quadratic estimation was developed by Rudolf E. Kalman around 1960. Peter Swerling developed a similar algorithm in 1958. Richard S. Bucy of the University of Southern California backed the theory, making it often being called the Kalman–Bucy filter. As stated by Madhumitha Aich (2010) the Kalman Filter is a mathematical system used to correct observed values that contain inaccuracies and other disturbances and produce values with are nearer to true values. In many military and space operations Kalman filter is widely used. The fundamental operation done by the Kalman Filter is to produce estimates of the true and calculated values. Then the uncertainty is calculated along with a weighted average of both the estimated and measured values. A considerable amount of literature has reported that there exist different variants of the Kalman Filter. Discussions such as that conducted by Madhumitha Aich (2010) presented that different variants of the Kalman Filter including Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) and Unscented Kalman Filter. The Extended Kalman filter is an extended variant of the original Kalman Filter. The requirement of linear equations for the measurement and state-transition models is relaxed; instead, the models may be nonlinear. The Unscented Kalman filter (UKF) is an improved alternative to the (EKF) for a variety of application. According to Kandepu, Bjarne, Lars, (2008) the performance of the UKF is better than the EKF in terms of robustness and speed of convergence. However computational effort in both EKF and UKF are almost the same. Webb, Prazenica, Kurdila Lind (2007) addresses a problem of obtaining a robust, real-time estimation of aircraft states from a set of measurements. The solution is gotten through by implementing implicit extended Kalman filter, a variation of the classical Kalman filter. The approach taken in this paper is to use the Kalman Filter to provide reliable state estimation. The resulting estimates are implicit functions of the aircraft states, the tracked feature points, and the camera parameters. In a research carried out by Freeston (2002) the Kalman Filter has been implemented for robot localization. Robot localization means the method whereby a robot locates its own position in the world in which it functions. The measurements of the robots x and y components of the position and the orientation is available. The information can be represented by a state vector. In order to find out its position, the robot uses beacon distance and angle measurements and kinetic data. This data consists of error. The Kalman Filter is one of the better methods to incorporate measurements into estimates. The Kalman Filter identifies that the measurements are noisy and that occasionally they are discarded. Furthermore the Kalman Filter identifies measurements that have only a small effect on the state estimate. The Kalman filter smooth out the uneven effects of noise in the state variable being estimated by add in more information from trustworthy data than from untrustworthy data. The user is able to provide the value of the error in the data and the system as an input in the filter. The Kalman filter computes an estimate of the position by considering the noise in the data and the system. The Kalman Filter algorithm can be used to combine measurements from different sources such as vision measurements and kinetic information and different times updates as a robot is moving. In addition the algorithm provides an estimate of the state variable vector uncertainty which is a measure of how accurate the estimate. This situation is somewhat similar to the situation discussed in the research. This idea can be utilized in the research to obtaining better estimates of the state variables by minimizing the effect of the noisy measurements. (Freeston, 2002) 2.8 Particle Filter The Kalman filter (KF) has revealed tremendously useful, however has stern assumptions about linearity and Gaussian noise. This is not always satisfied in real world applications. In such situations Particle Filter can be used to obtain solutions. (Orlande, et al., 2012) The Particle Filter Method is a Monte Carlo technique that can be utilized to obtain the outcome of state estimation. Particle filtering methods can be used in situations which are non-linear and/or non-Gaussian. Particle Filter otherwise called as bootstrap filter, condensation algorithm, interacting particle approximations and survival of the fittest. (Orlande, et al., 2012) In Karlsson (2005) the Particle Filter is adapted to some positioning and tracking applications. Particle Filter is constructed on a model which is linearized and a Gaussian noise assumption. A method for estimating position of industrial equipment that works underwater is developed. The data is collected from sonar sensor and surface direction finding system using radar readings and sea chart data. The problem is approached by using Bayesian methods and data collected from maps are used to improve the estimation performance. A real-time application of the Particle Filter as well as hypothesis testing is presented for a collision prevention application. A situation is somewhat similar to the condition talked about in the research is discussed by Ceranka Niedzwiecki (2003). A navigation system for the estimation of the pedestrian position, based on evidence from sources like GPS, is created using the Particle Filter approach. Although the GPS provide accurate information obstacles such as high buildings, trees, bridges may weaken or reflect the signals. This leads to significant growth of errors or even creates loss of GPS signals completely. The Particle Filtering approach is suggested to be suitable in this situation in order to estimate the missing locations and make sure the estimates comply with the constraints of the digital map. 2.9 Chapter Summary In this chapter the past studies and discoveries presented by various researchers related to the research is discussed. The details about the development of vessel traffic management systems (VTMS) up to the present day commercial vessel traffic management systems are presented. The problems associated with the VTMS are addressed. Then the facts about the AIS data are presented. Then the chapter addressed the solutions to improve the VTMS such as state estimation. The theoretical background of the Kalman Filter is presented as a solution to the state estimation problem. In the instances the Kalman Filter is not applicable the Particle Filter is presented as a better approach.

Shipping

This has Included the level of effort and costs associated with several courses of actions. I have also considered our obligations both legally and morally to our customer and our future customer. Our business has always held Itself and Its products to the highest quality standards and our customers in turn have rewarded us with continued trust and business. Our reputation and image should be a considering factor with any course of action that we take. I have carefully considered possible options and have identified three viable capabilities which would keep our reputation intact and provide the service our customers have come to expect.We can remake the whistle in question and repackage the entire collection; remove the whistle and ship the collection with a replacement of similar or higher value from our catalogue; keep the whistle Included but add a separate replacement of similar or even higher value with Instructions to discard the whistle and replace. Any solution should ensure the utmost customer satisfaction and provide our customers with the care and consideration, not to mention value, our customers rely on when they chose our company. It is also important to try to minimize the cost and effort required to remedy.This will not only minimize financial impact to the company but will help ensure we can remedial quickly in order to fulfill our shipments on time. All three have advantages and disadvantages which I will elaborate. The first option, remake the whistle in question and repackage the entire collection, has the advantage of providing our customer with exactly what they ordered and thus not Jeopardize the relationship we have In place. It would however be a significant undertaking as we would experience a great amount of labor for the remunerate and unpacking and repacking of the product.Legally and ethically there would be no issues but the financial impact of this approach would be about The second option, remove the whistle and replace with an item from our catalogue of equal value would allow us to utilize stock on hand and ship quickly. If the customer requests, we can ship the remade whistle at a later date. This option would remove the ethical and potentially legal concerns of shipping an unsafe reduce and if the customer accepts the replacement without requesting the shipping of the whistles to follow, would be significantly less costly than remaking the whistles in urgency to meet the shipping deadline.However, by substituting the whistle, even offering to ship the replacements at a later date, our reputation of accurate and timely shipping may be compromised with this customer. The third option, keep the whistle included but add a separate replacement of similar or even higher value with instructions to discard the whistle would save costs f remunerate and additional shipping. The schools could keep or discard the whistles as the whistle would pass any safety issues in South America.This would eliminate any legal concerns and would provide the best value to the customer and lowest cost to the company. However, knowing that these would not pass safety levels in the U. S. I feel that this would be highly unadvisable. If the schools chose to keep the whistles there could be resulting health issues to the children. My recommendation would be to proceed with the first option, to remake the whistle and repackage immediately. Although it is the most costly to the company upfront, the loss of reputation or customer faith would prove more costly in the long run.Our company prides itself on delivering to the highest levels. Compromised quality or orders the customer may feel are incomplete could damage the relationship and potentially future business. Additionally, any solution that may allow the tainted whistles in the hands of children could result in a more serious lack of confidence in our company. Our company is built on providing for educational and safe experiences for children worldwide. Anyth ing less would be unethical.In order to get in front of future issues of this type I recommend that we put in place a formal notification and escalation process for concerns of toy safety. We should clearly spell out what each employee is responsible to do and how the company will respond. If we consider potential issues before they occur and address the remediation it will remove any chance that we will be pressured into a fast and poor choice which may have long term impact to our company or our customers. I also recommend that we formalize the company ideals into a code of conduct that is available for our employees and customers.An excellent example that addresses responsibility to all stakeholders internally and externally is the code of conduct for the Matter Company. The Matter Company code of conduct addresses legal and ethical concerns and how to respond if there are concerns. (Matter Inc. , 2011) The Matter code of conduct removes any cloud of Judgment in a tough situation by addressing the concerns of the company, its stakeholders and its customers. It provides a clear explanation of the need and is easily understood. It includes core assign and play to grow.It also includes a value statement â€Å"act with unwavering integrity' that makes the company's emphasis on ethics to be paramount. The code of conduct addresses the responsibilities of all employees and additional responsibilities of leaders to be role models. In addition it spells out the consequences that should be expected if the code of conduct is not adhered. I strongly suggest that we develop a complete code of conduct such as this that will provide a guideline for the company and its employees for any future events as well as the day to day expectations.

Evidence Based Nursing Essay

INTRODUCTION Evidence Based Nursing or EBN is an approach to making quality decisions and providing nursing care based upon personal clinical expertise in combination with the most current,relevent research available. It is also known as evidence based practice. It is a thoughtful integration of the best available evidence coupled with the clinical expertise. TERMINOLOGIES Evidence Based Clinical Practice Guidelines:- Specific practice recommendations that are based on a methodologically rigorous review of the best evidence on a specific topic. Evidence Based Decision Making:- The integration of the best research evidence in making decisions about patient care, which should include the clinician’s expertise as well as patient preferences and values. Evidence Based Practice (EBP):- A problem solving approach to practice that involves the conscientious use of current best evidence in making decisions about patient care. Evidence Summaries:- Synthesis of studies, systematic literature review.Generalizability:- The extent to which the findings from a study can be generalized or applied to the larger population. DEFINITION Evidence Based Practice [EBP] is a problem solving approach to the delivery of health care that integrates the best evidence from studies and patient care data with clinician expertise and patient preferences and values. [Fineout-Overhott, E-2010] â€Å"Evidence Based Nursing is the incorporation of the best research evidence along with patient preferences the clinical settings and circumstances and health care resources into decisions about patient care† [Ciliska & Donna, 2006] â€Å"Evidence Based Nursing Practice is the conscientious , explicit and judicious use of theory derived, research base information in making decisions about care delivery to individuals or groups of patients and in consideration of individual needs and preferences† [Ingersoll, 2000] AIMS OF EPB To do the right thing,at the right time, for the right person, ensure quality care for client. PURPOSE Evidence based practice is to provide the highest quality and most cost effective nursing care possible. To advance quality of care provided by nurses To resolve problems in clinical settings To increases satisfaction of patient To focus on nursing practice away from habits& tradition to evidence and research IMPORTANCE OF EVIDENCE BASED NURSING PRACTICE It results in better patient outcomes. It contributes to the science of nursing. It keep practice current and relevant. It increases confidence in decision making. Policies and procedures are current and include the latest research, these supporting JCAHO readiness. Integration of EPB into nursing practice is essential for high quality patient care and achievement. COMPONENTS OF EVIDENCE BASED NURSING PRACTICE Key elements of a best practice culture are evidence based practice mentors, partnerships between academic and clinical settings, EPB champions, clearly written research, time and resources and administration support. When delivered in a context of caring and in a supportive organizational culture, evidence based practice can help to achieve the higher quality of care and best patient outcomes. SOURCES OF EVIDENCE BASED NURSING PRACTICE Primary sources of evidence:- These draw on original research findings. These sources include reports and articles about research. Secondary sources of evidences:- These draw on a range of source informing the topic of concern including. Systematic review Meta analysis Evidence based journals Clinical guidelines or protocols Cochrane collaboration Expertise opinion STEPS OF EBN Formulating a well built question Identifying articles and other evidence based resources Critical Appraisal Applying the evidence Re-evaluating the evidence Formulating the question:- A well built clinical question includes the following components The Patient’s disorder or disease Intervention or finding under review A Comparison intervention The Outcome [PICO] Applying PICO is a systematic way to identify important concepts in a case, and formulate a question for searching. Identifying Resources After successfully formulating the clinical question we need to find relevant evidence. There are generally three categories of resources. Background information Filtered resources Unfiltered resources Background information:- This category contains resources that provide background information about various disease conditions and clinical questions. Resources include upto date and other e-books such as diagnostic examination, current diagnosis, treatment. Filtered Resources:- In fitted resources, clinical experts and subject specialists pose a question and then synthesize evidence to state conclusions based on the available research. Unfiltered Resources:- It is up to you to access the resources quality, validity and applicability to your patient. Critical Appraisal:- When approaching a study, you want to know weather it was alone well, what the results were and weather it is relevant to your patients. After identifying an article you must appraise the information critically. Applying the evidence Once you have determined that the study and its results are valid, you used to decide if it is applied to your specific patient and situation. To reach your conclusion you may consult questions related to diagnosis, therapy, harm and prognosis. Apply the evidence in the clinical setting. Re-evaluating evidence:- Last step in evidence based practice. It is reevaluation. In tis process evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of your decision in direct relation to your patient.

Essay on Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Sallinger - 1567 Words

â€Å"Don’t tell people what you are thinking, or you will miss them terribly when you are away† (Salinger 214) says Holden Caulfeild as he warns the world. Salingers novel pinpoints the many fears and phobias of growing up from an immature, pessimistic, â€Å"everybody’s a goddam phony† perspective that makes it relate-able to young transitioning teenagers. Salingers Caulfeild is afraid of growing up and the unknown prospects of entering the adult world after experiencing a life changing event. Holden, clinging to his innocence, most importantly learns how the Phony adult world not only treats people like HC poorly, but it kills them. Salingers Novel is told in first person perspective by a seventeen year old Holden Coufeild who longs for†¦show more content†¦However, his character HC is manipulated to also have the agony of losing a loved one and facing that mild-stone of watching death. HC continues to mourn the death of his brother, Allie. H C, like many teenagers, does not know how to accept the hard times and find a way to cope in society. Instead he bottles up negative feelings that cause him to deteriorate from the inside. This one experience, in turn has the domino effect on HC because hes still immature, impulsive, and irresponsible. Most people would give up on HC, the way he gave up on people. HC hates his life but he never does anything to change it. Everything he hates, is because he is afraid and everything hes afraid of is because it will force him to grow up. HC fears that the world is full of phony’s, morons, and perverts. Throughout the entire book HC reaches out to positive role models but never really listens to their advice. Mr. Stradlater makes an effort to push HC to look at what he is doing wrong and feel ashamed, but HC doesn’t give a damn. Unfortunately for HC, he only sees what he wants to see. â€Å"One of the biggest reasons I left Elkton Hills was because I was surrounded by p honies. Thats all. They were coming in the goddamn window†(Salinger 13) . Yes, there are many phony’s, especially in high-school, there isn’t a