Self-Driving Boats in Amsterdam Can Move People and Goods
2020-10-29
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1The development and testing of self-driving car technology has seen major progress in recent years.
2But engineers are working on other kinds of autonomous vehicles too -- including some built for water.
3Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, are leading one such project.
4The engineers have been developing autonomous water vehicles they call "roboats."
5The word is a combination of "robot" and "boat."
6The project - which began in 2016 - aims to create a group of boats to transport goods and people along the waterways of Amsterdam.
7The Dutch capital has been called the world's "most watery city" because of its large network of canals.
8The project was launched in an effort to explore how autonomous boats can make Amsterdam - and other cities - more efficient and improve the population's quality of life.
9MIT's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, CSAIL, is leading the development in a partnership with the university's Senseable City Lab.
10The engineers centered past efforts on autonomous boats designed to transport small goods.
11But the project's latest creation, the Roboat II, can also carry passengers.
12The developers used machine-learning methods similar to those used to train self-driving cars.
13The robotic boats are designed to not only carry people and goods,
14but also "connect with other Roboats to form a range of autonomous platforms," Daniela Rus said in a statement.
15She is a professor at MIT and the director of CSAIL.
16The electric-powered Roboat II has four propellers that permit it to move in any direction.
17It is equipped with a series of cameras and sensors to guide its movements.
18It also uses LiDAR, a technology that uses light lasers to map the environment and measure distances.
19The boats are designed to use the sensor-collected data to create and "pilot a path between a series of goal points," the researchers say.
20The Roboat II measures two meters by one meter and weighs about 80 kilograms.
21A demonstration video of the model showed it carrying two passengers.
22The MIT team is currently developing its third autonomous water vehicle.
23That boat is expected to be four meters long and is designed to carry up to six passengers.
24The researchers described their latest development and testing results in a paper published online.
25They said Roboat II was successful in autonomously navigating the canals of Amsterdam for three hours while collecting data.
26The boat completed its chosen course and returned to the starting point with an error of just 0.17 meters, engineers reported.
27The team says it designed its autonomous system to involve separate boats working together.
28For example, Roboat II vehicles can link up in larger groups guided by a leader boat, the researchers say.
29The follower boats can travel next to the leader boat, in front of it or in back of it.
30This ability can greatly expand the possibilities of autonomous vehicles meant to transport goods.
31The MIT team plans to use what it has learned from its first two Roboats to create a model of its biggest autonomous boat yet.
32The researchers will test that boat in Amsterdam, as well.
33After that, the team plans to start testing the vehicles in environments with "more noisy waters," such as conditions found in the ocean.
34There have already been some experiments with autonomous shipping vehicles.
35In September, it was announced that an ocean research vehicle called the Mayflower Autonomous Ship would attempt to set sail across the Atlantic without a captain or crew on board.
36The 15-meter ship is a joint project of ocean research group ProMare and IBM, the American computing company.
37It will take the same path across the Atlantic as the 1620 Mayflower - the ship that carried a group of European settlers to North America.
38The crossing is planned to begin early next year.
39The builders of the new Mayflower say they hope such ships can be used in the future to explore parts of oceans that are too difficult or dangerous for people to reach.
40I'm Bryan Lynn.
1The development and testing of self-driving car technology has seen major progress in recent years. But engineers are working on other kinds of autonomous vehicles too -- including some built for water. 2Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, are leading one such project. The engineers have been developing autonomous water vehicles they call "roboats." The word is a combination of "robot" and "boat." 3The project - which began in 2016 - aims to create a group of boats to transport goods and people along the waterways of Amsterdam. The Dutch capital has been called the world's "most watery city" because of its large network of canals. 4The project was launched in an effort to explore how autonomous boats can make Amsterdam - and other cities - more efficient and improve the population's quality of life. 5MIT's Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, CSAIL, is leading the development in a partnership with the university's Senseable City Lab. 6The engineers centered past efforts on autonomous boats designed to transport small goods. But the project's latest creation, the Roboat II, can also carry passengers. 7The developers used machine-learning methods similar to those used to train self-driving cars. The robotic boats are designed to not only carry people and goods, but also "connect with other Roboats to form a range of autonomous platforms," Daniela Rus said in a statement. She is a professor at MIT and the director of CSAIL. 8The electric-powered Roboat II has four propellers that permit it to move in any direction. It is equipped with a series of cameras and sensors to guide its movements. It also uses LiDAR, a technology that uses light lasers to map the environment and measure distances. 9The boats are designed to use the sensor-collected data to create and "pilot a path between a series of goal points," the researchers say. 10The Roboat II measures two meters by one meter and weighs about 80 kilograms. A demonstration video of the model showed it carrying two passengers. 11The MIT team is currently developing its third autonomous water vehicle. That boat is expected to be four meters long and is designed to carry up to six passengers. 12The researchers described their latest development and testing results in a paper published online. They said Roboat II was successful in autonomously navigating the canals of Amsterdam for three hours while collecting data. The boat completed its chosen course and returned to the starting point with an error of just 0.17 meters, engineers reported. 13The team says it designed its autonomous system to involve separate boats working together. For example, Roboat II vehicles can link up in larger groups guided by a leader boat, the researchers say. The follower boats can travel next to the leader boat, in front of it or in back of it. This ability can greatly expand the possibilities of autonomous vehicles meant to transport goods. 14The MIT team plans to use what it has learned from its first two Roboats to create a model of its biggest autonomous boat yet. The researchers will test that boat in Amsterdam, as well. After that, the team plans to start testing the vehicles in environments with "more noisy waters," such as conditions found in the ocean. 15There have already been some experiments with autonomous shipping vehicles. In September, it was announced that an ocean research vehicle called the Mayflower Autonomous Ship would attempt to set sail across the Atlantic without a captain or crew on board. 16The 15-meter ship is a joint project of ocean research group ProMare and IBM, the American computing company. It will take the same path across the Atlantic as the 1620 Mayflower - the ship that carried a group of European settlers to North America. The crossing is planned to begin early next year. 17The builders of the new Mayflower say they hope such ships can be used in the future to explore parts of oceans that are too difficult or dangerous for people to reach. 18I'm Bryan Lynn. 19Bryan Lynn wrote this story based on reports from MIT. Ashley Thompson was the editor. 20We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section, and visit our Facebook page. 21____________________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23autonomous - adj. independent and having the power to operate automatically without human involvement 24canal - n. an artificial river built for boats to travel along or to take water where it is needed 25efficient - adj. working well and not wasting time or energy 26range - n. a group of different things of the same general kind 27platform - n. a vehicle used for a particular purpose or to carry a specified kind of equipment 28propeller - n. piece of equipment made of two or more flat metal pieces that turn around and cause a ship or aircraft to move 29navigate - v. to determine the correct sea or land route 30captain - n. the person in control of a ship or aircraft 31error - n. a mistake