TIM eMagazine Vol.2 Issue 3
(From left to right) Christian Cabos, Head of Department Information Management Technologies at DNV
GL – Maritime, Marco Bibuli, Researcher at the Italian research centre CNR-ISSIA, and Volker Bertram,
COMPIT Coordinator and Project Manager Engineering Services Newbuilding at the DNV GL Maritime
Academy, at the COMPIT awards ceremony in Cardiff. (Credit: Felix Selzer)
DNV GL COMPIT
Award 2017 for
smart underwater
robotics
M
arco Bibuli was announced as the winner
of the DNV GL COMPIT Award 2017, which
took place in Cardiff this year. The Italian
maritime robotics expert, working at the
Italian research centre CNR-ISSIA in Genova,
was honoured for his work on team-capable,
smart robots.
“The jury singled out Marco Bibuli,
because his work brought advanced techniques of Artificial
Intelligence to practical applications, representing innovative
engineering at its finest. In Bibuli’s applications, the robots are not
replacing the human, but act as caddies, supporting a diver in his
work, for enhanced efficiency and safety,” says COMPIT organizer
Volker Bertram from DNV GL
Through a combination of machine vision, machine learning
and cybernetics (control engineering), Bibuli has developed the
project through to the first field testing stages. The prototypes
give a glance at a future where robots become ubiquitous helpers,
used for underwater inspection, cleaning, rescue operations, tank
surveys and other tasks, supporting divers for increased safety and
efficiency.
COMPIT is the abbreviation for “Computer Applications and
Information Technology in the Maritime Industries”. The conference,
which took place for the sixteenth time, offered information on
advanced IT applications for the lifecycle of ships and offshore
structures. Topics such as “Autonomous maritime systems”, “Virtual
Reality and Augmented Reality”, “Yards 4.0” and “Big Data”, amongst
others, were discussed by the participants. As in previous years,
DNV GL was a main sponsor of this event.
This is the tenth time that an outstanding scientist has been
presented with the DNV GL COMPIT Award at this prestigious
conference. Previous winners of the award are:
2016 Henrique M. Gaspar (Norway)
2015 Tatsuo Nishikawa (Japan)
2014 Marcus Bole (UK)
2013 Herbert Koelman (NL)
2012 Rachel Pawling (UK)
2011 Denis Morais (Canada)
2010 ---
2009 Matthias Schneider / Thomas Glotzbach (Germany)
2008 Cassiano Marins de Souza (Brazil)
2007 Jean-David Caprace (Belgium)
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