A team of researchers from MIT and Amsterdam have developed a new autonomous boat that’s big enough to carry two passengers and smart enough to take them on a three-hour trip with a margin of error of just 6.7 inches.
The new self-driving boat is 6’ 6” long and it’s called the Roboat 2; the original Roboat was a smaller and not-as-smart version, and it was developed as part of a five-year project by MIT and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions. The goal is to create the world’s first fleet of autonomous vessels for Amsterdam’s canals, working to transport people, deliver goods, collect waste, and even form temporary bridges.
The new Roboat may be lacking in the aesthetics department, but it’s certainly over the top in the autonomous vessel area. It uses a new Simultaneous Location and Mapping (SLAM) algorithm that helps the boat decide the fastest and most direct route to its destination. This information is constantly updated with lidar, GPS, and an inertial measurement unit (IMU).
The initial tests show that the Roboats could be used as something like a waterborne Uber service in Amsterdam, Venice, or even, say, Fort Lauderdale. A potential rider places a request and a controller dispatches the nearest Roboat to pick him or her up. Then SLAM takes over.
In the latest tests, the research team found a way to connect a fleet of three Roboats to each other and travel together. One is designated as the leader, and gets all the information; the others are designated as followers, and they simply go along the for the ride. The Roboats can be connected in a row, or side by side.
Larger, and even smarter, Roboats are the way. See the Roboat 2 in action in the video below:
https://newatlas.com/marine/mit-roboat-ii-autonomous-boat/
