RINAC, The Future Bridge to Operate with RIS

To operate in a RIS (River Information Services) environment certain 'tools' will be needed. RINAC deals with a concept of the bridge (wheel-house) of an inland navigation vessel, to operate in an RIS environment. RINAC stands for River Information, Navigation And Communication system, and describes an architecture of the future bridge of an inland vessel as a result of a study in the Fourth Framework Program of the European Commission. This architecture is based on the two most important tasks of an inland navigation skipper. The first one comprises the tactical tasks like monitoring the traffic environment and making manoeuvring decisions. The RIS concept will assist the skipper to complete the traffic image aboard with additional information in particular on places where the onboard radar cannot oversee the situation. The second task of the skipper is called the strategic task. This includes gathering information from the fairway for voyage planning, cargo loading etc. Reporting dangerous goods is another strategic task that will be part of the RIS concept. The Human Machine Interface, the way how to work with this tool, and how to present the information, forms a part of this study. RINAC describes also the communication requirements as integrated part of the RINAC set-up. Tactical communication must be real time and meet very high reliability and availability of standards. It deals with safety and navigation. Communication for strategic purposes is less time critical and can be obtained from public communication networks. Communication must be transparent for the user. The system decides how data exchange will take place and which available communication means and protocols will be used. Working in an RIS environment will have consequences on training and certification to all involved with the system. This has been investigated during the project