To create an autonomously moving vessel, it is necessary to know exactly how to determine the current coordinates of the vessel in the selected coordinate system, determine the actual trajectory of the vessel, estimate the motion trend to predict the current coordinates, and calculate the course correction to return to the line of the specified path. The navigational and hydrographic conditions of navigation on each section of the route determine the requirements for the accuracy of observations and the time spent on locating the vessel. The problem of predicting the trajectory of the vessel’s motion in automatic mode is especially important for river vessels or river-sea vessels, predicting the trajectory of the route sections during the maneuvering of the vessel. At the moment, one of the most accurate ways of determining the coordinates of the vessel is by reading the satellite signal. However, when a vessel is near hydraulic structures, problems may arise connected with obtaining a satellite signal due to interference and, therefore, the error in measuring the coordinates of the vessel increases. The likelihood of collisions and various kinds of incidents increases. In such cases, it is possible to correct the trajectory of the movement using an autonomous navigation system. In this work, opportunities of the possible application of artificial neural networks to create such a corrective system using only the coordinates of the ship’s position are discussed. It was found that this is possible on sections of the route where the ship does not maneuver.

The option of introducing an automated control system to ensure the safe passage of unmanned vessels on inland waterways has been explored. An analysis of domestic and foreign scientific and technical literature was carried out to determine conceptual provisions that allow choosing a rational way of interaction of this system with known ones. It is noted that the automated ships locking control system should provide the necessary level of navigation safety, and the implementation of this system should not affect the operation of other subsystems and metasystems. Currently, cases of constructing such systems for automated mooring of unmanned vessels at navigational hydraulic structures are unknown. Therefore, based on the engineering-cybernetic approach, a list of provisions that contribute to the successful organization of research of a conceptual and operational nature has been formulated. Conceptual provisions for the synthesis of structure and factors that allow you to develop a rational version of the system structure to obtain the greatest efficiency and safety of its operation are proposed. In addition to the development of locking control systems, an equally important task is the creation of technical means in the lock chamber, the operation of which can ensure the required level of security. Therefore, the process of mooring an unmanned vessel to an automated mooring ring, for a utility model of which the authors of this study had received a patent, is theoretically described. To achieve the goal of formulating the problems of developing and constructing an automated locking control system, an analysis of mooring devices used at shipping locks, including abroad, which confirms that fixed and movable mooring devices with vacuum grips are currently used, is carried out. A review of scientific and technical literature on the use of automatic and automated mooring systems makes it possible to develop proposals for organizing an auto-mooring system of a shipping lock to ensure the unmanned vessels passage, as well as to formulate the main problems and tasks that must be solved to ensure the passage of both unmanned and ordinary vessels.

One of the ways to improve navigation safety during water transport operation is to develop automated devices and systems that reduce the number of tasks for workers. For example, the introduction of vessels with different levels of autonomy into production activities, capable of automatically monitoring the environment or delivering cargo, helps to reduce the size of the vessel due to the absence of a residential superstructure. On inland waterways, one of the limitations of the introduction of autonomous navigation is their safe passage through shipping passages — shipping locks. Mooring a vessel in a lock chamber is very labor-intensive and is usually performed by crew members of the vessel being locked for movable (floating hoops) or fixed (berthing bollards, bollards, hoops) mooring devices, the permissible loads of which are established in regulatory documents. Over the past 10 years, the authors have not found studies describing the results of measuring the loads on mooring devices and ropes arising from the movement of the vessel in the lock chamber. Another constraint to the implementation of autonomous shipping is the lack of requirements for auto-mooring devices that ensure the retention of vessels in the lock chamber. In this regard, the purpose of this study is to compare the standard and actual values of the load on mooring eyes and ropes for the theoretical calculation of the holding forces of the vacuum automooring device model, taking into account the operating conditions in the shipping lock chamber. The measurement results presented in the article were obtained in the course of the research work “Development of scientifically based recommendations for establishing hydraulic modes for filling and emptying the chambers of locks No. 1–8 of the Federal State Budgetary Institution “Volga-Balt Administration” based on in-kind studies of the conditions of ship mooring in lock chambers” commissioned by the Federal Agency for Maritime and River Transport using a strain gauge installed in the mooring rope cut. As a result of the theoretical calculation of the holding force of the vacuum auto-mooring device, the holding forces of the vacuum gripper from the radius of one vacuum suction cup were obtained.