EP3837158A1

EP3837158A1 - Apparatus and method for automated handling of mooring ropes

Info

Publication number: EP3837158A1
Application number: EP19728104.1A
Authority: EP
Inventors: Tapio Koski
Original assignee: Lohkoasennus Oy
Current assignee: Lohkoasennus Oy
Priority date: 2018-08-15
Filing date: 2019-05-23
Publication date: 2021-06-23
Also published as: FI129378B; FI20185681A1; WO2020035632A1

Abstract

An apparatus, arrangement and method for assisting handling of mooring lines (4) during mooring operations of marine vessels (1). The apparatus comprises a robotic arm (11) and grapple device (9) at an end portion of the arm. Loop (6) of mooring line is detected by means of a range finder device (13) and the loop is gripped by means of the grapple device. Thereafter the loop is transferred from the ship to a bollard (5).

Description

Apparatus and method for automated handling of mooring ropes

Background of the invention

The invention relates to an apparatus for assisting mooring of ships and other marine vessels to wharfs and mooring docks. The apparatus comprises means for connecting the vessel to structures of the mooring docks by means of mooring ropes or wires.

The invention further relates to an arrangement at the mooring dock and to a method of handling mooring ropes of a marine vessel.

The field of the invention is defined more specif ically in the preambles of the independent claims.

Operations at ports are often hazardous for humans, especially the mooring of ever larger ships in difficult weather, tidal current and visibility conditions. Since the very beginnings of human maritime endeavor, boats and ships have been moored using various ropes, and this has not changed under the ensuing millennia. Until now the work of mooring ships of any size has been done by people throwing ropes of varying length and thickness from the ship to the port, and in doing so accidents and fatalities have taken place. In order to avoid the manual mooring work there have been some attempts to mechanize or automatize the mooring process. Several solutions based on use of different vacuum devices and magnetic gripping heads have been disclosed. However, the known mooring aid solutions have shown to con tain some disadvantages.

Brief description of the invention

An object of the invention is to provide a novel and improved apparatus, arrangement and method for handling mooring ropes of a marine vessel.

The apparatus according to the invention is charac terized by the characterizing features of a first independ ent apparatus claim. The arrangement according to the invention is char acterized by the characterizing features of a second inde pendent apparatus claim.

The method according to the invention is character ized by the charactering features and steps of an independ ent method claim.

An idea of the disclosed solution is that mooring lines of a marine vessel are handled by means of one or more mooring robots each of them comprising a robotic arm and a grapple device at a distal end portion for grappling the mooring lines during docking procedure of the marine vessel. In other words, the mooring robot connects and releases the mooring lines to fixing devices on a mooring facility. A free end of the mooring line, such as rope, is provided with a loop in order to allow it to be connected to the fixing device, such as a bollard. The mooring robot comprises one or more sensing units or devices for detecting the mentioned loop of the mooring line and control means for controlling the robotic arm and the grapple device close to the loop and to execute the grappling and transportation of the loop and the mooring line between the ship and the fixing device. The operation of the mooring robot is controlled by means of one or more control units, whereby its operation may be automatic .

An advantage of the disclosed solution is that when the hazardous manual handling of the mooring lines may be avoided then human accidents and fatalities may be avoided. Moreover, the robotized mooring line handling increases the speed and reliability of the mooring. A further benefit is that thanks to the automated and mechanized rope handling, the docking can be executed also in harsh conditions. Fur ther, the solution may also help lowering overall costs of the ports and ships when less assisting personnel is needed.

The disclosed mooring robot is able to automatically moor any type of ship to almost any type of pier with no human assistance from the port. The disclosed system may be implemented without any need of specialization on the ships construction and existing mooring lines. Therefore the dis closed solution is easy to implement.

The disclosed solution is also relatively easy to retrofit to the existing docking facilities.

Further, thanks to the automated apparatus, effi ciency and productivity of the mooring system may be in creased .

According to an embodiment, the mooring line may be a mooring rope, wire or chain a free end of which is provided with a line eye or loop. Typically the mooring lines are ropes, since they are light in weight and still durable. Light weighted ropes are also well suited for robotic han dling .

According to an embodiment, the mooring facility comprises several fastening devices or fixing devices for connecting the mooring line loop, and wherein the fixing device is rigidly mounted to the mooring dock. The fixing device of the mooring facility may be a bollard, mooring post or mooring bollard post, whereby the mooring line loop may be arranged around the mooring bollard.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus comprises one or more force sensing devices for detecting forces gen erated between the grapple device and the mooring line dur ing the transport and handling operations. An advantage of this feature is that the grip of the grapple device may be configured to loosen its grip in response to the detected force. The ship may move and cause external forces directed towards the robotic arm. This kind of situation may arise, for example, when hard wind, waves or tidal currents move the ship suddenly. The control unit of the robotic arm or the mooring robot may be provided with maximum force limit values and when the sensed force value exceeds the limit value then the mooring line is released. This way, damages to the mooring robot system may be avoided. According to an embodiment, the apparatus compris ing the robotic arm is dimensioned and designed in accord ance with the weight of the mooring line. In other words, the apparatus is designed and intended only for handling the mooring lines and has no role in tensioning the mooring lines or generating any kind of mooring forces for restrain ing the ship or moving it. Therefore, the apparatus is provided with a protection system for preventing forces greater than a predefined maximum force limit to be sub jected to the mechanical structure of the apparatus during the mooring process. The protection system may be configured to receive sensing data from the force sensing device of the sensing unit and is configured to control the grapple device to open and release the mooring line in response to the detected force exceeding a predetermined maximum force limit. Alternatively, the apparatus may be provided with a clutch, release device or mechanical fuse for preventing over dimensioned forces to be directed from the mooring line to the apparatus. An advantage of the protection system is that damages to the grapple device and the robotic arm may be effectively prevented. On the other hand, the protection system offers a possibility to safely operate the mooring robot also in hard conditions since the protection system protects the mooring robot in case something unexpected happens .

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is pro vided with a manually operable emergency release device or control feature in case of malfunction or any sudden abnor mal incident during the mooring process and the mooring line handling. The emergency release may be remote controlled from the marine vessel, for example. Thus, personnel of the ship may generate a control signal which is received by the control unit of the mooring robot and then the grapple device is opened.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus comprises a release device or safety system that includes a fully mechanical force sensing device, such as a spring. The ap paratus may let go mechanically the mooring line when too high forces are directed to the robotic arm and the solution may then release the mooring line.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is pro vided with one or more force sensing devices for detecting forces between the grapple device and the mooring line. Further, the control unit of the apparatus is provided with a minimum force limit and generated sensing data from the force sensing device is communicated to the control unit. The control unit is configured to control the grapple device to direct grappling force greater than the minimum force limit towards the mooring line. Thus, the second purpose of the force sensing device arranged in connection with the grapple device is for ensuring that sufficient grappling force is directed to the mooring line so that the transfer and handling of the mooring line loop can be executed with out problems. This way reliable, safe and efficient mooring line handling can be ensured when the mooring line is not lost during the normal mooring process.

According to an embodiment, the control unit of the apparatus is configured to receive marine vessel specific data and is configured to execute the mooring process in accordance with dedicated mooring instructions of the ma rine vessel. An advantage of this embodiment is that dif fering mooring line arrangements can be taken into account automatically and the marine vessels are always moored cor rectly in accordance with designed mooring plans. The moor ing instructions and/or preplanned or stored data elements may comprise the following data: type of the marine vessel; size of the marine vessel; location and number of the moor ing line openings on a hull of the marine vessel; number of required mooring lines for proper mooring; possible alter native mooring settings for different weather situations; fixing pattern of the mooring lines; connecting and loos ening order of the mooring lines; type of initiation of the mooring process (i.e. under control of captain or when not ing the loops by a detection system of the mooring robot) .

According to an embodiment, the control unit of the apparatus may be in data communication with an automatic identification system (AIS) and may be configured to receive real-time information on the marine vessel approaching the dock site. This way the control unit may be configured to retrieve marine vessel mooring instructions on the basis of the identification data of the marine vessel. Then the con trol unit may be configured to prepare the mooring process beforehand on the basis of the identification data. The identification data may be linked to a data element stored in a memory device of the control unit, or alternatively, the data element is retrieved from an external server, for example. It is also possible that the AIS is configured to send the mooring instructions directly to the control unit of the apparatus when the marine vessel is arriving to the docking site.

According to an embodiment, the robotic arm is con nected to a base, which is provided with a turning joint for allowing the robotic arm to be turned relative to the base. Further, the base is connected to the mooring dock immovably at least for the duration of the executed mooring measures. The base may have a fixed fastening to the mooring dock. Alternatively, the base is mounted on a movable land carrier whereby the robotic arm is an on-board device of a wheeled carrier. The wheeled carrier may be a land vehicle, rubber-tire vehicle, carrier movable on rails or a movable land trailer. The carrier may be a self-propelling vehicle, or alternatively, it may be a trailer or corresponding tow- able structure. The movable land carrier may be moved and parked under manual control to a desired position at the docking site. The operation of the movable land carrier may be executed by an onboard operator or by means of a remote- control from a distance. A further possibility is to arrange automatic positioning system for the carrier and to thereby transport the one or more mooring robots into desired op erating positions. An advantage of the movable mooring ro bots is that their capacity may be utilized more effectively when they can be moved to new active positions after having completed the mounting or loosening of the mooring line at the previous operating position. A limited number of the mooring robots may serve several mooring positions and even several neighboring mooring docks.

According to an embodiment, several mooring robots may be carried by one or more land carriers to desired operating positions and may be left there. Then, the base may be provided with suitable legs or other support elements or surfaces for supporting the mooring robot on the ground and possibly anchoring it to be immovable at the operating position after the land carrier has left. In this embodiment the mooring robots and the transfer means are separate de vices and the number of the mooring robots is greater than the number of the transport means.

According to an embodiment, the mooring robot to gether with its base is mounted on an autonomously movable land carrier, which is configured to move and position the mooring robot automatically to the defined mooring positions under control of one or more control units. The autonomously operating carrier is provided with a position detection system for automated transfer and positioning. In addition to, the carrier is provided with a collision avoidance sys tem for ensuring safe operation of the carrier at the wharf or pier. A master or main control unit may decide the number of needed mooring robots for each marine vessel to be docked and the autonomously movable carriers may transport the mooring robots beforehand to correct positions at the dock ing site. The base of the mooring robot may comprise legs or other support elements or surfaces for supporting the mooring robot on the ground whereby the movable land carrier may bring the mooring robot to the desired position and may thereafter leave the area for picking up other mooring ro bots or for executing other operational tasks at the mooring area .

According to an embodiment, the mooring system com prises several mobile mooring robots which may be moved and positioned to desired positions. Then, reference markings may be arranged on the docking site for determining pre designed operating positions for the mooring robots. The reference markings may be visual markings, electrically readable markings or any other kind machine readable mark ings. Alternatively, the mooring dock may be provided with physical anchoring or positioning means for ensuring accu rate positioning to the pre-determined position.

According to an embodiment, the mooring robot com prises a first sensing unit comprising one or more range finder devices or corresponding sensing devices for detect ing positions of loops of the mooring lines relative to the mooring robot. The mentioned first sensing unit may be lo cated at the distal end portion of the robotic arm. The first sensing unit may communicate the sensing data to a control unit of the mooring robot via a data communication connection. When the sensing unit and its range finder de vice is located at the distal end of the robotic arm, then visibility to the target is as good as possible.

According to an embodiment, the range finder device of the apparatus is a 3D laser scanner. Then the ranger finder device is capable to generate 3D point cloud data on surroundings of the apparatus and provide the control unit of the apparatus with data for position detection and op erational control. The range finder device may be arranged onboard the robotic arm, or alternatively, it may be ar ranged on a base of the mooring robot. Nowadays, the price of the range finders is relatively low whereby the measuring data may be produced by means of several range finder de vices. One or more range finder devices may also be arranged separate from the mooring robot and sensing data may be communicated to the mooring robot via wireless data commu nication connection. The control unit may comprise a com puter program or algorithm execution of which in a processor is configured to recognize the loops of the mooring lines and the bollards from the produced point cloud and to thereby determine position coordinates and control commands for moving the robotic arm.

According to an embodiment, the sensing system of the mooring robot may be as in the previous embodiment, but the range finder device is a LIDAR. LIDAR devices are re liable, small sized and inexpensive whereby it is relatively easy to implement them in the present solution. One alter native type of a range finder is a time-of-flight camera or sensor (ToF) . The LIDAR and the ToF both produce a point cloud comprising several hit points each provided with co ordinate data. A common advantage for the above mentioned 3D laser scanners, LIDARs and ToFs is that their operation is not sensitive to weather conditions such as rain, fog and snowfall. A further advantage of LIDAR is that is does not comprise any mechanical movable components, wherefore its structure is durable and small in size.

According to an embodiment, operation of the range finder device of the mooring robot is based on visual de tection. Then the sensing system comprises one or more cam- eras and the control unit is provided with a machine vision computer program or algorithm. The sensing system may then recognize the mooring line and the bollard and may produce needed position coordinates for the system.

According to an embodiment, positions of the fixing devices located at the mooring site may be determined by scanning the surroundings of the apparatus, or alterna tively, the positions of the fixing devices may be taught for the control unit of the apparatus by positioning the grapple device manually at the fixing devices and then stor ing coordinates of the fixing devices. An additional further possibility is to provide the control unit with position coordinates of the bollards or mooring posts.

According to an embodiment, the control unit is provided with a searching program for recognizing the line loop from the sensing data received from the range finder device of the first sensing unit. The range finder device may be configured to generate point cloud data and the searching program may identify the shape of the line loop from the point cloud data. Points of the point cloud data are provided with coordinates.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is con figured to initiate the mooring process in response to re ceived control command from the marine vessel. The control command may be transmitted through wireless data transmis sion from the marine vessel to the apparatus. The captain of the marine vessel may be responsible for the final order to launch the mooring process.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is con figured to initiate the mooring process in response to a detected mooring line loop hanging on the side of the marine vessel facing the dock. In other words, the mooring line is unwound to make the loop visible and this indicates to the apparatus, that the marine vessel is positioned properly and is ready to be moored.

According to an embodiment, in addition to a first sensing unit, the apparatus comprises a second sensing unit comprising a second range finder device and configured to cover surroundings of the apparatus and to provide detection data on obstacles at a predetermined working area or reach distance around the apparatus. An advantage of this embod iment is that the surroundings of the mooring robot may be monitored and thereby safety of the apparatus may be en sured .

According to an embodiment, the mooring robot is provided with a collision avoidance system. The system may utilize the detection data produced by the first and second range finder devices described above, and may be provided with a collision avoidance computer program and one or more strategies for the collision avoidance.

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is pro vided with at least one security zone surrounding the ap paratus, and is further provided with a collision avoidance system configured to execute collision avoidance measures when obstacles are detected inside the security zone. The security zone may comprise predetermined distances around the mooring robot. The security zone may be a virtual zone without any physical barriers.

According to an embodiment, the collision avoidance measures executed by the collision avoidance system dis closed above may be as follows: The collision avoidance system is configured to stop the movement of the robotic arm; to interrupt the ongoing operation; to reduce movement speed gradually in response to detected distance to the object; to generate an alternative movement path for avoid ing collision and getting too close to the object; to pro duce warning message or signals; to generate control signals for other devices and systems operating at the mooring dock for moving the detected obstacle out of the security zone.

According to an embodiment, the control unit is configured to communicate to the marine vessel a completed connection of the mooring line loop to the fixing device in order to initiate tensioning of the mooring line by means of the mooring winches onboard the marine vessel. Similarly, when the mooring loop is to be loosened, the control unit of the mooring robot may communicate with a control system of the winch or with the operating personnel of the winch to unreel the mooring line and to thereby allow the robotic arm to release the loop from the bollard. In other words, the mooring process requires co-operation with the mooring robot and the mooring line tensioning system. The mooring robot is without any winch or tensioning device for ten sioning the mooring line. Instead an external tensioning device is utilized after the grappling device or gripper of the apparatus has released to mooring line. The external tensioning device, such as the winch may be located onboard the ship, or alternatively it may be arranged in connection with the mooring facility.

According to an embodiment, the robotic arm com prises at least a first arm and a second arm connected to each other by means of a first joint. The grapple device is connected to a distal end portion of the robotic arm by means of a second joint.

According to an embodiment, the robotic arm com prises at least three arms connected to each other by means of joints. However, in some case there may be even more arms connected to each other.

According to an embodiment, at least one of the arms of the robotic arm is longitudinally extendable so that the length of the arm may be increased and decreased. In other words, the robotic arm comprises one or more linear joints. An advantage of this embodiment is that the reach of the robotic arm may be extended and still the physical structure of the mooring robot may be reasonable.

According to an embodiment, the arms of the robotic arm are foldable to an inoperable position and are openable to an operable position. An advantage of this embodiment is that when the mooring robot is not in use, it may be driven into a folded position where it takes only a little space and is protected against collisions and impacts of weather.

According to an embodiment, the robotic arm of the mooring robot may be mounted on a base. Height of the base may dimensioned according to safety regulations. The height of the base may be over 2000 mm, such as 2300 mm or 2500 mm so that the robotic arm operates above humans possibly en tering to the operating area of the mooring robot.

According to an embodiment, total horizontal reach range of the robotic arm may be at least 15 m. However, the reach range may also be dimensioned according to the need. According to an embodiment, the arrangement for con necting and releasing mooring lines of a marine vessel com prises two or more mooring robots located at the mooring dock and configured to transport the mooring lines between the marine vessel being parked at the mooring position and fixing devices of a mooring facility of the mooring dock. There may be two mooring robots located at longitudinal end portions of the ship. When extremely large cargo ships are moored, there may be one or more additional mooring robots between the end portions of the ship.

According to an embodiment, each of the mooring robots comprise dedicated control units. Control units of the several mooring robots are configured to communicate with each other and to share mooring specific data between each other. Mooring instructions may require that the moor ing is executed in a specific manner requiring co-operation with the several mooring robots serving the same ship.

According to an embodiment, mooring specific data generated during the mooring process may be analyzed and the mooring instructions may be amended and stored based on the gathered new data. Thus, improved mooring instructions may be used for future mooring processes. The control unit may be provided with a machine learning algorithm, or al ternatively the improvements may be done manually by the personnel .

According to an embodiment, one of the control units of the several mooring robots is configured to serve as a master control unit and the other control units are config ured to operate as slave control units, whereby the master control unit is configured to receive control data from the slave control units and is configured to communicate with one or more external control units or devices for receiving control commands, updated data and instructions. However, one of the slave robots may take over communication in the event of a failure of the master control unit. The mentioned external control unit may be a server, a portable computer or an electronic terminal device.

According to an embodiment, the solution relates to a method of mooring a marine vessel. The method comprises connecting and releasing mooring lines of the marine vessel to fixing devices of a mooring facility located on a mooring dock. The mooring lines of the ship are handled by means of one or more mooring robots, which are operating automati cally under control of one or more control units. Positions of mooring line loops at free ends of the mooring lines are detected by means of sensing units of the mooring robot where after positions of the detected mooring line loops and the fixing devices of the mooring facility relative to the mooring robot are determined. The mooring line loop is grappled by means of a grapple device of the mooring robot and the mooring line loop is transported from the marine vessel to the fixing device, and respectively from the bol lard to the ship. Tensioning of the mooring lines is exe cuted by means of winches only when the grapple device of the mooring robot has released the mooring lines. In other words, the robot is without any tensioning feature and the distal end of the mooring line is freely movable when being subjected to robotic handling.

According to an embodiment, the winch for tensioning the mooring line is typically located onboard the marine vessel. However, it may be possible, that the winch or corresponding tensioning device is located on land or on the docking facility. Then the mooring may robot pick up the mooring line and may transfer it to a loop connecting structure of the winch after which tensioning is initiated. The above disclosed sensing system of the mooring robot may be configured to detect the loop of the mooring line and the loop connecting structure of the winch. The mooring robot may be configured to generate a signal to the control system of the winch of a successful mounting of the mooring line loop around the mooring bollard after which tensioning of the mooring line is initiated. Alternatively, the mooring robot may generate the signal and send it to the marine vessel wherein the winches are controlled manually.

According to an embodiment, the control unit of the disclosed apparatus or system is configured to communicate to the marine vessel a completed connection of the mooring line loop to the fixing device in order to initiate ten sioning of the mooring line by means of the mooring winches external to the apparatus. The mooring winches of the marine vessel may controlled under control of the one or more control units, or they may be controlled manually by an operator .

According to an embodiment, the grapple device com prises at least two gripping jaws or surfaces which are movable relative to each other and are able to grip the mooring line between them. The gripping jaws may be shaped in accordance with the shape of the mooring line. Further, material of the gripping jaws may be resilient. The jaws may be moved by means of one or more gripping actuator, which may be operated electrically or hydraulically, for example. In connection with the grapple device may be the force sensing system, as is disclosed above in this appli cation .

According to an embodiment, the apparatus is elec trically operable. The mooring robot may be connected to an electrical power supply network and it may comprise one or more electrical actuators such as electrical motors or lin ear motors for moving the robotic arm and the grapple de vice. Further, the mooring robot may comprise a hydraulic or pneumatic systems wherein hydraulic power is generated by hydraulic pressure generating pump actuated by means of an electrical motor. Thus, the movement of the mooring robot may be executed either by using the electrical or pressure medium actuators. Further, in some cases the mooring robot may be a battery operated device, which is beneficial if the mooring robot is moved between two or more working sites .

The above disclosed embodiments and features may be combined in order to form suitable solutions that are needed .

Brief description of the figures

Some embodiments are described in more detail in the accompanying drawings, in which

Figure 1 shows schematically a ship which is parked at a mooring position and mooring ropes are fastened by means of a mooring robot,

Figure 2 shows schematically some features of the mooring arrangement,

Figure 3 is a schematic view of a mooring robot provided with a robotic arm with several joints,

Figure 4 is a schematic side view of a mooring robot provided with an elevated base and being in an extended operational state,

Figure 5 is schematic side view of the mooring robot of Figure 4 in a folded state,

Figure 6 is a schematic top view of mooring dock provided with several mobile mooring robots,

Figure 7 is a schematic top view showing an arrange ment wherein mooring robots are transported to desired lo cations by means of separate transfer vehicles, and

Figure 8 is a schematic top view showing a control unit of a mooring robot and features related to the opera tion of the mooring robot.

For the sake of clarity, the figures show some em bodiments of the disclosed solution in a simplified manner. In the figures, like reference numerals identify like ele ments .

Detailed description of some embodiments

Figure 1 discloses a marine vessel 1, which is po sitioned to a desired mooring position on a mooring dock 2. The marine vessel 1 is fastened to a mooring facility 3 of the mooring dock 2 by means of several mooring lines 4. The mooring facility 3 comprises several fixing devices 5, such as bollards, around which a loop 6 of the mooring line 4 may be arranged. The mooring line 4 is transferred between the marine vessel 1 and the mooring facility 3 by means of one or more mooring robots 7. Figure 1 discloses only one mooring robot for the sake of clarity. The marine vessel 1 may comprise winches or corresponding tensioning devices 8 for tensioning the mooring lines since the mooring robot 7 is intended only for transport purpose. The winches 8 may be arranged on a deck of the marine vessel 1, as it is disclosed in Figure 1, or they may be located inside a hull of the ship. In Figure 1 a grapple device 9 of the mooring robot 7 is reaching the loop 6 protruding from a mooring line opening 10. The grapple device 9 is arranged to a distal end of a robotic arm 11. The robot 7 also includes a base 12 for supporting it. Operation of the mooring robot 7 is controlled by means of a control unit CU. At the distal end of the robotic arm 11 is a first sensing unit comprising at least one range finder device 13 for detecting the moor ing line 4 and especially the loop 6 and also for producing other positioning data. The robot 7 may further comprise a second sensing unit provided with a second range finder device 14 for monitoring surroundings of the mooring robot 7. Further, there may be a safety zone 15 around the mooring robot 7.

Figure 2 discloses some features of a mooring ar rangement. The features disclosed in Figure are explained already above in this patent application.

Figure 3 discloses a mooring robot 7 provided with a robotic arm 11 with three arms 11a - 11c and arm joints 16 for allowing turning movements T1 - T3. The entire ro botic arm 11 may be turned R around vertical axis. Further, the grapple device 9 may be tilted relative to a grapple joint 17 and at least some of the arms may be provided with linear joints 18. Thereby, the mooring robot 7 may be moved in a versatile manner when transferring the mooring lines 4 and operating at the mooring work site.

Figure 4 discloses a mooring robot 7 and its robotic arm 11. The robotic arm 11 may comprise several arms, arm joints 16 and linear joints 18 so that it has a relatively wide reach range. Further, a base 12 of the robot 7 may be dimensioned to be relatively high so that the robotic arm 11 operates above humans 19 and may thereby fulfil safety regulations. The base 12 may comprise a turning motor 20 for executing turning movements, and the robotic arm 11 comprise needed actuators 21 for moving the arms. Figure 5 shows the same robotic arm 11 in a folded position.

Figure 6 discloses a mooring system wherein several mooring robots 7 are moved by means of movable carriers 22, such as vehicles or trailers, to desired positions on a mooring dock 2. The carriers 22 may be freely movable or they may be moved along a pre-determined movement path 23, such as rails or navigation aids. In Figure 7 there is one or more carriers 22 which transport the mooring robots 7 to desired operational positions and pick up the robots after the mooring lines are connected or released. In Figure 7 one self-propelling carrier 22 navigating on one or mooring docs may serve a plurality of robots.

Figure 8 discloses features of a control unit of a mooring robot. These features are discussed already above in this patent document.

The drawings and the related description are only intended to illustrate the idea of the invention. In its details, the invention may vary within the scope of the claims .

Claims

1. An apparatus for supporting mooring of a marine vessel (1) to a mooring facility (3) on a mooring dock (2), wherein the apparatus is located on the mooring dock (2) and comprises:

a robotic arm (11);

at least one grapple device (9) for grappling moor ing lines (4) of the marine vessel (1) and being connected to a distal end portion of the robotic arm (11);

at least one control unit (CU) provided with at least one processor and configured to control operation of the apparatus automatically in accordance with at least one input control strategy and sensing data; and

at least a first sensing unit comprising at least one range finder device (13) for detecting positions of loops (6) of the mooring lines (4) relative to the appa ratus ;

characterized in that

the apparatus is configured to detect visible moor ing line loops (6) of the marine vessel (1) and to transfer the mooring lines (4) under control of the control unit (CU) from the marine vessel (1) to fixing devices (5) on the mooring facility (3) and to connect the mooring line loops (6) to the fixing devices (5); and

the control unit (CU) is configured to communicate to the marine vessel (1) a completed connection of the mooring line loop (6) to the fixing device (5) in order to initiate tensioning of the mooring line (4) by means of the mooring winches (8) external to the apparatus.

2. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1, charac terized in that

the apparatus comprises at least one force sensing device for detecting forces generated between the grapple device (9) and the mooring line (4) .

3. The apparatus as claimed in claim 1 or 2, char acterized in that

the apparatus is dimensioned and designed in ac- cordance with the weight of the mooring line (4); and

the apparatus is provided with a protection system for preventing forces greater than a predefined maximum force limit to be subjected to the mechanical structure of the apparatus during the mooring process.

4. The apparatus as claimed in claim 2 or 3, char acterized in that

the control unit (CU) is provided with a minimum force limit; and

the control unit (CU) is provided with sensing data from the force sensing device arranged in connection with the grapple device and is configured to control the grapple device (9) to direct grappling force greater than the min imum force limit towards the mooring line (4) .

5. The apparatus as claimed in any one of the pre ceding claims 1 to 4, characterized in that

the control unit (CU) of the apparatus is configured to receive marine vessel specific data and is configured to execute the mooring process in accordance with dedicated mooring instructions of the marine vessel (1) .

6. The apparatus as claimed in any one of the pre ceding claims 1 to 5, characterized in that

the robotic arm (11) is connected to a base (12), which is provided with a turning joint for allowing the robotic arm (11) to be turned (R) relative to the base (12), and wherein the base (12) is configured to be connected to the mooring doc (2) immovably at least for the duration of executed mooring measures.

7. The apparatus as claimed in any one of the pre ceding claims 1 to 6, characterized in that

the range finder device (13) is a 3D laser scanner.

8. The apparatus as claimed in any one of the pre ceding claims 1 to 7, characterized in that

the apparatus comprises a second sensing unit com prising a second range finder device (14) and configured to cover surroundings of the apparatus and to provide detection data on obstacles at a predetermined working area or reach distance around the apparatus.

9. The apparatus as claimed in any one of the pre ceding claims 1 to 8, characterized in that

the robotic arm (11) comprises at least a first arm and a second arm (11a - 11c) connected to each other by means of at least one arm joint (16); and

the grapple device (9) is connected to a distal end portion of the robotic arm (11) by means of a grapple joint (17) .

10. Arrangement for connecting and releasing moor ing lines (4) of a marine vessel (1), wherein the arrange ment comprises:

a mooring dock (2) provided with at least one moor ing position for receiving and docking marine vessels (1);

a marine vessel (1) positioned at the mooring posi tion or approaching the mooring position; and

mooring facility (3) comprising at least two fixing devices (5) at the mooring dock (2) for connecting mooring lines (4) of the marine vessel (1) being positioned at the mooring position;

characterized in that

the arrangement comprises at least two mooring ro- bots (7) located at the mooring dock (2) and configured to transport the mooring lines (4) between the marine vessel (1) and the fixing devices (5); and

the mooring robots (7) are according to the previous claims 1 - 9.

11. The arrangement as claimed in 10, charac terized in that

control units (CU) of the several mooring robots

(7) are configured to communicate with each other and to share mooring specific data between each other.

12. Method for connecting and releasing mooring lines (4) of a marine vessel (1) to fixing devices (5) of a mooring facility (3) located on a mooring dock (2);

handling the mooring lines (4) by means of at least one mooring robot (7), which is operating automatically under control of at least one control unit (CU) ;

detecting positions of mooring line loops (6) at free ends of the mooring lines (4) by means of at least one sensing unit of the mooring robot (7);

determining positions of the detected mooring line loops (6) and the fixing devices (5) of the mooring facility

(3) relative to the mooring robot (7); and

grappling the mooring line loops (6) by means of a grapple device (9) of the mooring robot (7);

characterized by

transporting the mooring line loops (6) from the marine vessel (1) to the fixing devices (5), which are located on the mooring dock (2); and

tensioning the mooring lines (4) by means of winches

(8) of the marine vessel and only when the grapple device

(9) of the mooring robot (7) has released the mooring lines

(4) .

13. The method according to claim 12, charac terized by detecting forces affecting between the grapple de vice (9) and the mooring line (4) during the transport of the mooring line (4) and releasing the mooring line (4) in response to detected exceed of a pre-determined maximum force limit, whereby structure of the mooring robot (7) is protected against over dimensioned external forces.

14. The method according to claim 12 or 13, char acterized by

signaling to the marine vessel (1) of a successful mounting of the mooring line loop (6) around a mooring bollard serving as the fixing device (5) ; and

initiating tensioning of the mooring line (4) in response to receiving the signal from the mooring robot (7) .