5 ms·
I wonder how navigation changes if your ship has a set of these. You've got one movement source - sails - whose power is based on the relative wind speed and d
by mabbo 4y ago
I wonder how navigation changes if your ship has a set of these.
You've got one movement source - sails - whose power is based on the relative wind speed and direction and has near-zero variable cost. You have a second movement source - your engine - with fewer limitations but a higher variable cost (fuel cost + CO2 emission costs). You have a whole ocean with at least a week of predicted wind speeds and directions.
You've got a schedule to keep, but maybe not one that requires you to be there as quick as possible- after all, ships are slow-steaming now, right?
All together, a straight line often won't be the most economical route anymore. Tacking a little bit to get better wind could make the investment in these sails pay off faster.
- jmoorebeek 4y agoI totally agree that route optimization takes on a whole different dimension now! For our early models and numbers, we're just benchmarking no change in route of speed, to really highlight the baseline benefits of sails. However, there are tremendous knock-on effects that would give you an advantage to follow the wind. We can make use of not only improved forecasting, but better satellite weather data and connectivity to ships to provide updates in real time. Altogether, there will be a lot of performance on the table that ships can take advantage of in the future.
- amarcuss 4y agoVery cool product. Routes are indeed a fascinating topic. I wonder what a fully re-worked routing would do for this technology. Obviously not a 0 to 1 problem, but might be worthy demonstrating what a re-worked route plan could do. For hundreds of years, trade by sea was dictated by wind patterns. Today, it no longer is - but imagine what would be possible if routes took advantage of trade winds using this technology.