1. A cable shape prediction system comprising: a neural network comprising an input layer, a hidden layer, and an output layer, each layer comprising one or more nodes, all nodes in the input layer being connected to a operational data, each node in the input layer being connected to each node in the hidden layer and each node in the hidden layer being connected to each node in the output layer, the output layer outputting a predicted cable position, each connection between nodes having an associated weight; and a training means for determining the weight for each said connection between nodes of the neural network, the neural network being responsive to the operational inputs for outputting a predicted cable position.