# Real-Time Navigation for Autonomous Surface Vehicles In Ice-Covered Waters

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2302.11601 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2302.11601/

## Key facts

- Cited by 1 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 22 Feb 2023.

## Built on by (most cited first, 1 of 1)

- [Breaking the Epistemic Trap: Active Perception Under Compound Uncertainty](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.26627/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

Vessel transit in ice-covered waters poses unique challenges in safe and efficient motion planning. When the concentration of ice is high, it may not be possible to find collision-free trajectories. Instead, ice can be pushed out of the way if it is small or if contact occurs near the edge of the ice. In this work, we propose a real-time navigation framework that minimizes collisions with ice and distance travelled by the vessel. We exploit a lattice-based planner with a cost that captures the ship interaction with ice. To address the dynamic nature of the environment, we plan motion in a receding horizon manner based on updated vessel and ice state information. Further, we present a novel planning heuristic for evaluating the cost-to-go, which is applicable to navigation in a channel without a fixed goal location. The performance of our planner is evaluated across several levels of ice concentration both in simulated and in real-world experiments.