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Experimental evaluations on autonomous navigation and collision avoidance of ship maneuvers by intelligent guidance are presented in this paper. These ship maneuvers are conducted on an experimental setup that consists of a navigation and control platform and a vessel model, in which the mathematical formulation presented is actually implemented. The mathematical formulation of the experimental setup is presented under three main sections: vessel traffic monitoring and information system, collision avoidance system, and vessel control system. The physical system of the experimental setup is presented under two main sections: vessel model and navigation and control platform. The vessel model consists of a scaled ship that has been used in this study. The navigation and control platform has been used to control the vessel model and that has been further divided under two sections: hardware structure and software architecture. Therefore, the physical system has been used to conduct ship maneuvers in autonomous navigation and collision avoidance experiments. Finally, several collision avoidance situations with two vessels are considered in this study. The vessel model is considered as the vessel (i.e., own vessel) that makes collision avoidance decisions/actions and the second vessel (i.e., target vessel) that does not take any collision avoidance actions is simulated. Finally, successful experimental results on several collision avoidance situations with two vessels are also presented in this study.

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A structured technology framework to address navigation considerations, including collision avoidance, of autonomous ships is the focus of this study. That consists of adequate maritime technologies to achieve the required level of navigation integrity in ocean autonomy. Since decision-making facilities in future autonomous vessels can play an important role under ocean autonomy, these technologies should consist of adequate system intelligence. Such system intelligence should consider localized decision-making modules to facilitate a distributed intelligence type strategy that supports distinct navigation situations in future vessels as agent-based systems. The main core of this agent consists of deep learning type technology that has presented promising results in other transportation systems, i.e., self-driving cars. Deep learning can capture helmsman behavior; therefore, such system intelligence can be used to navigate future autonomous vessels. Furthermore, an additional decision support layer should also be developed to facilitate deep learning-type technologies, where adequate solutions to distinct navigation situations can be facilitated. Collision avoidance under situation awareness, as one of such distinct navigation situations (i.e., a module of the decision support layer), is extensively discussed. Ship collision avoidance is regulated by the Convention on the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea (COLREGs) under open sea areas. Hence, a general overview of the COLREGs and its implementation challenges, i.e., possible regulatory failures, under situation awareness of autonomous ships is also presented with the possible solutions. Additional considerations, i.e., performance standards with the applicable limits of liability, terms, expectations, and conditions, toward evaluating ship behavior as an agent-based system in collision avoidance situations are also illustrated.