An automatic correction system of nautical charts and its performance

In the framework of safety, the authors propose a novel automatic correction system for nautical charts. The hardware mainly consists of an X-Y plotter and microcomputer, while the software consists of system program and database to accommodate the information of correcting the chart. In the database, the information given by Japanese Notices to Mariners, which is published by the Japan Maritime Safety Agency, is arranged into a compact form. This compactness allows the system to be run even on a microcomputer, to be simple in configuration, and to be operational onboard. The performance of the system is discussed in comparison with manual correction, and the application of the system to actual correction is investigated. The results show that the system works on 96% of the items of the Japanese Notices to Mariners. It is expected that this system can be applied to American, British, and other foreign charts with a few modifications in the hardware and software