ICIEA 2026 Special Session

SS20: Reliable Control and Robotics for Maritime Operations

Organized by:

Organizer 1: Jing Zhou

Email: jing.zhou@uia.no

Affiliation: University of Agder, Norway

Organizer 2: Houxiang Zhang

Email: hozh@ntnu.no

Affiliation: Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway

Organizer 3: Guoyuan Li

Email: guoyuan.li@ntnu.no

Affiliation: Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway

Summary of session:

In the era of digital transformation, maritime systems reliability, safety and operations are becoming increasingly intelligence-driven. The rapid growth of global marine traffic, the emergence of autonomous vessels, and the increasing complexity of marine systems present new challenges in ensuring safe, reliable, and efficient operations. Advances in reliable artificial intelligence, data analytics, decision support technologies, and advanced control methods offer powerful tools to enhance situational awareness, collision avoidance, operational efficiency, and the performance of marine mechatronic systems. Effective integration of these technologies requires addressing issues of data quality, interpretability, and human-AI collaboration in safety-critical maritime environments.

This invited session brings together researchers, industry experts, and stakeholders to discuss recent developments and applications of reliable AI-enabled tools and intelligent control systems for enhancing maritime operation safety. Topics include, but are not limited to, trustworthy decision-making, marine traffic analytics, autonomous and semi-autonomous vehicle control, and intelligent mechatronic systems for safer and more efficient maritime operations.

Background and Justification:

Maritime systems are becoming increasingly complex due to growing traffic density, diverse operational demands, and the integration of autonomous and semi-autonomous vessels. Conventional approaches to navigation, ship handling, and operational decision-making are no longer sufficient to ensure the required levels of safety, reliability, and performance in modern maritime environments. Advances in reliable artificial intelligence, data analytics, decision support technologies, and advanced control methods provide new opportunities to enhance situational awareness, collision avoidance, operational efficiency, and marine mechatronic system performance. These technologies enable smarter and more resilient maritime systems but also introduce challenges related to data quality, algorithm transparency, human–AI collaboration, and robust control design in safety-critical environments.

This special session is motivated by the need to explore and validate reliable AI-enabled tools and intelligent control systems in maritime environments. It provides a forum for researchers, industry practitioners, and stakeholders to share insights, discuss methodological developments, and explore applications in AI-driven decision support, traffic analytics, autonomous vehicle control, and intelligent mechatronic systems aimed at strengthening safety, reliability, and performance across the maritime domain.

Information of papers:

The session will include theoretical, methodological, and applied contributions related to:

• Trustworthy AI-based decision support for maritime safety.
• Collision avoidance and path planning for manned and autonomous vessels.
• Data mining and knowledge discovery in marine traffic systems.
• Human-AI interaction and decision transparency in maritime vehicles.
• Predictive analytics and anomaly detection for maritime operations.
• Digital twins and simulation tools for maritime training and safety evaluation.
• Advanced control and automation of marine vehicles.
• Optimization of marine mechatronic and mechanical systems.