TELEROBOTICS: PROSPECTS FOR TRANSPORTATION & LOGISTICS; LEGAL ISSUES & CHALLENGES {1 OF 2}

 

It has sparked one of the loudest political debates in the US in recent times. It is also increasingly becoming a thorny issue internationally. Drones (Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) pictured above) a specie of Telerobots currently form the gravamen of US foreign policy objectives and have been deployed with President Barack Obama personally ordering the use of drone strikes to take out terrorists in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen, and Somalia.

But what exactly  is Telerobotics? What prospects does it present to Transportation and Logistics? What legal issues does it raise? What are the challenges?

In this series we shall examine these posers.

What is Telerobotics?

“Telerobotics is the area of robotics concerned with the control of robots from a distance, chiefly using wireless connections like Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, the Deep Space Network, and similar, "tethered" connections, or the Internet. It is a combination of two major subfields, teleoperation and telepresence.”

Telerobotics involve mobility and thus is within the province of Transportation law. It also raises a gamut of issues that implicates other aspects of law.

Telerobots range from unmanned ground vehicles (UGV); unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) to Remotely Operated Vehicles.

UGV

UGV’s are used for reconnaissance and are used by the military of tech savvy nations. Commercialization for civilian use however though not yet widespread is certainly not within the realm of fiction.

Before we go further let’s watch this clip of a military UGV.

UGV

UAV

Now let’s consider the UAV. I earlier introduced this specie of Telerobots earlier. The most famous and controversial sub type is the Drone mainly used for military purposes. Let’s steer clear of the controversy for now (we shall consider it in the concluding part of this series in our next post)

Just take a delightful trip with me as we view the awesome potentials of a UAV. Let’s view Lockheed Martin's Hybrid Air Vehicle which can be designed as an unmanned or manned intelligence gatherer or transport vehicle.

Beautiful innit? This remarkable airship can stay aloft for up to three weeks at an altitude of 20,000 feet! Now imagine the dizzying possibilities for International Trade and commerce.

ROV

To complete the trilogy of telerobots on our radar, a closer look at the ROV is in order. “A ROV is a tethered underwater vehicle. A ROV may sometimes be called a remotely operated underwater vehicle to distinguish it from remote control vehicles operating on land or in the air.”

“ROVs are linked to the ship by a tether (sometimes referred to as an umbilical cable), a group of cables that carry electrical power, video and data signals back and forth between the operator and the vehicle.

Submersible ROVs have been used to locate many historic shipwrecks, including that of the RMS Titanic, the Bismarck, USS Yorktown, and SS Central America. In some cases, such as the SS Central America, ROVs have been used to recover material from the sea floor and bring it to the surface. They are widely used to work in water too deep or too dangerous for divers. They repair offshore oil platforms and attach cables to sunken ships to hoist them. They are common in deep-water industries such as offshore hydrocarbon extraction. While the oil & gas industry uses the majority of ROVs; other applications include science, military and salvage”

“With an increased interest in the ocean by many people, both young and old, and the increased availability of once expensive and non-commercially available equipment, ROVs have become a popular hobby amongst many. This hobby involves the construction of small ROVs that generally are made out of PVC piping and often can dive to depths between 50 to 100 feet but some have managed to get to 300 feet.”

ROVs have inspired the formation of many competitions. One of such competition is the National Underwater Robotics Challenge (NURC). The 2012 competition is on and you can read about it here.

Prospects of Telerobotics with respect to Transportation and Logistics.

Telerobotics like every technological invention has positive and negative capabilities.  It represents a paradigm shift in its radical core of detaching to a large extent man and machinery. Thus it’s capacity to be utilised as a force for good in carrying out dirty, dangerous, inaccessible or even routine normal tasks in remote sensing, commercial aerial surveillance, oil, gas and mineral exploration and production, scientific research, conservation, search and rescue and of course transportation can hardly be ignored.

It is also a pervasive field that is capable of inflicting so much misery if deployed for combat purposes or other destructive purposes whether in the right or wrong hands.

The impact of Telerobotics in Transportation and Logistics can be evinced in many areas. UAV’s (drones) have since made the transition to civilian use.  In the United States, for example, government agencies use drones for law enforcement to patrol the nation's borders, scout property, and hunt down fugitives. In Australia, Victorian police are conducting drone trials, following the lead of their US counterparts. Other countries are following suit.

Imagine the possibilities of a mass produced commercial UGV in the terrestrial movement and distribution of goods. Although it appears a long way off Logistics company could significantly lower overhead costs by integrating UGV’s in their operations especially with regards to access to remote areas.

How about ROV’s? Imagine its impact on the Tanker trade, the detection of oil spills and the collation and collection of ocean data.

In November 2011, Liquid Robotics Inc. a well funded start up company led by Bill Vass launched the PacX Challenge, an attempt to get four Wave Gliders across the Pacific.

In case you are wondering what a wave glider (which is simply an unmanned maritime vehicle (UMV)) looks like here it is:

They were launched from San Francisco’s St. Francis Yacht Club and have travelled together to Hawaii, a distance of nearly 6000km.

On June 21, 2012 Liquid Robotics, Inc. and Schlumberger announced the creation of Liquid Robotics Oil & Gas, a joint venture to develop services for the oil and gas industry using Wave Gliders (pictured above) the world’s first wave-powered, autonomous marine vehicles.

Can we in the light of the giant strides made in Telerobotics envision a completely unmanned Very Large Crude Carrier or or large ships in our oceans one day? Most def. I had say. It is certainly not far fetched. The technology is already here.

As we end this first introductory part of our Telerobotic series, it is worth mentioning that the technology is not completely free from vulnerabilities and has its own fair share of legal conundrums. But that is a gist for the next post.

In the meantime ponder these questions. What are the likely vulnerabilities and challenges? What legal issues in transportation law and generally does Telerobotics raise?

Au revoir!

OBSERVATIONS & REMBRANDTS!

I remember my Fine Arts class in First Grade and then onwards until I gave up notions of becoming another Rembrandt later in Junior High. I remember learning to sketch objects using crayons and watercolour. My favourite things to sketch then where- boys, girls and cars. In that order. I could do the first two reasonably competently. That is if you define competence as drawing an O and then string of _____ / \ -  angled awkwardly to form the torso, hands and legs with a smattering of ////\\\\\ on the O (the head) to differentiate between the boys and the girls.

At the third task I was a hilarious disaster for a long time. You can’t blame me though. The third is decidedly more complicated. It didn’t prevent my teachers from asking me to draw it and me from making a huge mess of it.

But I have come to realize that drawing among other benefits is particularly useful to stimulate observation skills. Before you scoff at that, let me ask a question. How observant are you? Hang on a sec. How observant are people generally? Hold on to your partisan answer.

A little experiment should settle this. Watch

How observant are people?

Hilarious innit? It would seem people are not very observant. In fact people are generally hopelessly unobservant. Yet observation is such a fundamental trait. The secret of art lies in observation. So also does learning. For to learn is to observe. To discern. I would go as far as saying that success and failure in marriage, in work, in life is oft determined by the ability to observe. Without being overtly dramatic it could be the difference between life and death.

I have seen ships up close. Been on a few ferries and yacht, but I realized to my embarrassment that while I can wax eloquent on many Maritime Law & Admiralty topics including Charter parties, Carriage of Goods by Sea etc., I would most definitely fumble if you ask me to draw a ship. Even worse if you ask me to identify accurately the major parts of a ship. That’s saying much for one who professes to be a Transportation & Logistics practitioner. But before you stand there and sneer at me, can you please draw and label a modern ship and while you are at it an airplane as well?

If you have ever seen a modern ship or an airplane and what you sketched doesn’t look like this…

or like this…

I suggest you go back to Junior High!

Now let’s identify the major parts shall we? First the ship.

1: Smokestack or Funnel or Chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler or the ship to the outside atmosphere.

2: Stern is the rear part of a ship.

3: Propeller and Rudder is the device used to steer a ship.

4: Portside is the left side of a ship. (The right side is known as starboard).

5: Anchor is the heavy object attached to a vessel by a cable or rope and cast overboard to keep the vessel in place.

6: Bulbous bow; is the protruding bulb at the bow (or front) below the waterline. (a feature of many modern ship hulls).

7: Bow is the forward part of a ship.

8: Deck is a floor or level of a ship. The section of the deck in the picture is also known as the forecastle.

9: Superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. It is those parts of the ship that project above her main deck.

Then the plane…

1. The fuselage, is a long, thin body, often cylindrical, and usually with tapered or rounded ends to make its shape aerodynamically smooth. The fuselage may contain the flight crew, passengers, cargo or payload, fuel and engines the aircraft is designed for or they may be attached to it.
2. The cockpit is located at the front or top of the fuselage and equipped with controls and usually windows and instruments is where the pilots of manned aircraft operates it from.
3. The wing deflects air downward as the plane moves forward, generating lifting force to support it in flight. The wing also stabilises the plane's roll (tilt left or right), and the wing-mounted ailerons control rotation about the roll axis. A wide variety of wing configurations (e.g., multiplane aircraft and delta wing planform) have been used.
4. A vertical stabiliser is a vertical surface mounted at the rear of the plane and typically protruding above it. The vertical stabilizer stabilises the plane's yaw (turn left or right) and mounts the rudder which controls its rotation along that axis.
5. A horizontal stabiliser or elevator, or tailplane, is mounted at the tail of the plane, near the vertical stabilizer. The horizontal stabilizer is used to stabilise the plane's pitch (tilt up or down) and mounts the elevators which provide pitch control. A fixed portion of the elevators may be omitted in which case it is termed an all flying tail. Some planes use a front-mounted canard instead of a rear-mounted horizontal stabilizer.
6. The engines provide thrust to push the plane forward through the air. The most common propulsion units are propellers (powered by reciprocating or turbine engines) and jet engines (which provide thrust directly from the engine and usually also from a large fan mounted within the engine).
7. The Landing gear is a set of wheels, skids, or floats that support the plane while it is on the surface. On seaplanes the bottom of the fuselage or floats (pontoons) support it while on the water. On some planes the landing gear retract during flight to reduce drag.
8. The Rudder, (yes a plane like a ship has a rudder) are pedals, which control rotation of the plane about the yaw axis. There are two pedals that pivot so that when one is pressed forward the other moves backward, and vice versa. The pilot presses on the right rudder pedal to make the plane yaw to the right, and on the left pedal to make it yaw to the left

So there we go! Catching up on lost drawing time. The parts we labelled are by no means exhaustive. The ship and airplane do have some other parts. The whole idea is to elevate our transportation vocabulary beyond Carburettor and Radiator.  I’m pretty much certain too that our observation skills have stepped up a notch. At least mine has!

Hopefully next time we won’t flinch when asked to draw an airplane or a ship.

Now draw this old steam train:

Hahahaha. Wipe away your tears.

Here you go. All done without breaking a sweat.

How about the parts of a train? For the avoidance of doubt, much like the Age of Sail in shipping that alludes to an age when sails were the predominant design preference for a ship, the Age of Steam featured steam powered locomotives.

The steam trains like the one above have given way to sleeker electric & diesel powered variants. But for the heck of it I’m gonna have to ask you to identify the parts labelled 1-47 in the picture below.

Don’t tell me you are totally nonplussed again?

Sigh.

Anyway I’m in a good mood today. Put yourself out of your misery. Go here.

At this point you probably would have come to the realization (like I did long ago) that you would never be a Rembrandt. For your efforts thus far though I have a gift for you-an eye candy…

It’s Rembrandt’s famous Christ in the Storm on the Lake of Galilee portrait.

Sheer genius!

You may never be a Rembrandt but you would always be uniquely YOU!

Stay Sprightly!

LIFE IS A SHIPWRECK...SO?

Phew! Ain't it just classy that I did my disappearing act again right after the last post? Hey but don't crucify me yet. I got tons of excuses. Let's try some.

First since February 24th when I last posted, I completed my LL.M (Maritime Law) from National University of Singapore by writing Take Home Examinations and Research Papers in three different countries! Each lasted for a minimum of Twenty Four Hours and had the most convoluted tales of Maritime shenanigans you can dream up. That surely was an experience!

Then I hopped on to my wizard's broom...

and flew to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (Finished a Research Paper there that I started in Singapore). Then on to Melbourne, Australia in March. Actually wrote one of my exams-The International Regulation of Shipping there. It was a funny feeling because Melbourne is three hours ahead of Singapore and it was my first time in Australia. I managed to enjoy the experience though. Then back to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. (For a few days of street roaming and sightseeing) Then back to Singapore for a day. Then to Doha, Qatar. Then to Johannesburg, South Africa. Arrived on the 3rd of April and was stuck pursuing my other interest (Human Rights!) at the Legal Resources Center, Johannesburg. Great experience it was. Met so many wonderful people and made friends I hope would last for a lifetime.

Enjoyed especially working with George and for my efforts I got an autographed piece from George of an Op-Ed I helped him prepare for the World Editor's Forum; an autographed copy of his book, "No one to Blame?";

and tons of anecdotes, lessons and wisdom. Not to talk of an insider's recount of the Rivonia Trial and defending Nelson Mandela!

Then in June after my stint at the LRC, I took me (okay! Not exactly accurate. A dear friend was generous enough to pay) for a trip to beautiful beautiful beautiful Cape Town, South Africa where I visited breathtaking places like Table Mountain and the infamous Robben Island.

At Robben Island I came in contact with very poignant revelations about a whole lot of issues including Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe. Our tour guide was Yasin Mohammed the first General Secretary of Pan African Congress (PAC). On discovering I was Nigerian, Yasin recounted in his humorous and witty narrative during the tour, the efforts and role Nigeria as well as other nations played to end Apartheid.

I got to discover through Yasin's methodological narrative that the first political prisoners were held in Robben Island starting in the mid 17th century, with some coming from Dutch colonies as far away as Indonesia and the most popular being of course Nelson Mandela who spent 18 years out of the approximately 27 years he was in prison on this island. But even non-political prisoners and hardened criminals also once called the Island home. The Island had been many things in the course of it's history including a quarantine station, a leper colony, a “lunatic” asylum, a whaling station, abode of feral cats, Australian rabbits and ignominious host to the indefatigable Robert Sobukwe.

I stood in front of the vacant cell number 7, Nelson Mandela's cell and took this picture

 

Now how about that for a lengthy excuse? Aint an excuse which is simply a reason or explanation put forward to defend or justify a fault or offense just wonderful? I hope the ones I have given by way of a narrative of what warranted the unjustifiable neglect of this blog in the past three months would suffice? If it doesn't then how about 'I am sorry?' Thanks!

While I was gone the waves flowed on in the lovely oceans of the word and the wheels of civilization progressed.

So permit me to quickly bring you all up to speed on developments since the Concordia sank.

First what has become of the infamous Captain Schettino?

Well Schettino has been under house arrest since Jan. 14. Schettino potentially faces charges of manslaughter, causing a shipwreck and abandoning ship before all of her passengers were evacuated. No date for the trial has been set. As at April 11, 2012 the Italian Supreme Court ruled that Francesco Schettino, must continue to be under house arrest pending the conclusion of investigations and the commencement of trial.

How about the Costa Concordia?

The fallen beauty is on the verge of being aroused from her unfortunate sideways slumber. "On 21 April, 2012 it was announced that Florida-based marine salvage and wreck removal company, Titan Salvage, with its partner company, Micoperi, an Italian firm specializing in subsea engineering solutions,had been awarded the contract by Costa Crociere to refloat and tow away the Costa Concordia to a port on the Italian mainland. The salvage operation will use the port of Civitavecchia as its base. It began in early May and is estimated to take about 12 months. Once in port the Concordia will be demolished (cut into pieces), and the materials sold as scrap."

Curious about what is being proposed as regard the salvage and some of the myriad issues that go into consideration? Don't worry I got your back. Watch.

The Rock that sank the ship.

The killer 80 ton rock that sank the ship and got Captain Schettino into a whole lot of hot water is being proposed to be used as part of a memorial to the now assumed total of 32 persons who lost their lives.

Other matters arising from the Concordia

Let's talk money. Predictably the disaster hit the cruise sector and prices for cruises dipped. As a New York Times article reveals after a shipwreck, cruise lines try to win passengers back with discounts (obviously).

For as little as $64 per night you could get a night on a cruise ship at these times. It may be worth considering. Cruise Accidents are very few and far between so no need to cower!

Lessons to be learned from the Concordia

The Concordia incident is replete with lessons to be learned that transcend the gamut of shipping! (Aint that one of the reasons I am in love with shipping and the seas? There is always something to learn). We would just take six. You can add up the rest.

First a crisis is the acid test of leadership.

Unpleasant consequences attends a leadership deficit. Schettino's travails teaches that much.

Second a risk is not worth taking if the utility to be derived therefrom is marginal and the peril if unsuccessful great!

For Pete's sake what was the Captain (in consonance with line management as he claims) thinking when he ventured too close to shore all for the sake of putting up a show? The marginal utility of giving people at the mainland a spectacle viz the real threat of an accident was simply not worth the hassle.

Be loyal to your duties.

Many people simply snooze on the job. Loyalty to your job demands that you fill up your role effectively and not try to cut unnecessary corners or cheat your employer of the value of the wages he pays you.

Always have an eye for detail.

It pays to be organized wherever and in whatever you do. Know your environment. Be proactive. Try to keep your head when others about you are losing theirs. Pay attention to safety procedures. You never know when they may come in handy.

Organizational pro-activity is essential.

It's amazing how organizations devote so little a time as to understanding what can possibly go wrong in their businesses and planning a structured response in advance. Even in the midst of a resurgent global economic crises there is so much a firm can do to ensure that it is crises primed. Things as simple as occasional meetings premised on Murphy's law can go a long way in bridging the crisis deficit gap in most organizations.

Finally “Life is a shipwreck but we must not forget to sing in the lifeboats"

Voltaire's famous words rings even truer today. No matter how glum a situation may be there is always the silver lining in the clouds. There is a whole lot of perspective, direction, gratitude and exhilaration to be gotten from an attitude of singing in the lifeboats! 

You can always turn that situation around.

That is the winning attitude!

Ciao!