Autonomous Boat: Mayflower

IBM / ProMare - Mayflower 400 ASV

[UPDATE 28.04.2022 - The Mayflower 400 ASV appears to have started a journey across the Atlantic]

IBM and ProMare have teamed up with to create an autonomous boat that is capable of ocean crossing. This, of course, has been already accomplished. This is the next iteration in the development of this technology, and a great way to see how IBM solves this problem

in 2021 the boat attempted to cross from Plymouth, UK to Plymouth, USA. Unfortunately, this attempt had to be aborted due to a mechanical issue (the output exhaust connector failed, which lead to exhaust inside the cabin, eventually affecting the generators efficiency.  stuff happens!).

The boat will attempt the crossing again in the Spring 2022. It is even possible now to connect to the boat to observe the sea-trials. A dashboard has the telemetry from the boat as well as a video feed.

Links

• Info:  Mayflower 400 (https://mas400.com/)
• view the Dashboard

Live view from Mayflower

Video can be found on the Dashboard as well as on IBM's streaming site

• Mast forward view  (https://video.ibm.com/channel/zKMTGNrcRSW)
• Bow and Multiview  (https://video.ibm.com/channel/yeyVzFWKG8m)

ProMare is a not for profit that is "Promoting Marine Research and Exploration". They also have interesting projects such as Ultradeep UAVs and ROVs

[update:  You can find the Mayflower400 ASV at any time using vesselfinder.com]

Trans-ocean-robots: Autonomous Surface Vehicles

ASV - Autonomous Surface Vehicles  OR USV - Uncrewed Surface Vehicles (link goes to Wikipedia)

no matter what you call it... they are the Robots of the Sea! 

It is an excited aspect of robots. Here is some recent news in the realm of marine robotics...

Make Magazine has a nice write up on a group of Makers the had an interest in building a sailing robot to cross the Atlantic Ocean.  Their hopes and dreams lead to projects, hometown support, and eventually - a robotics business. 

Scout - Transatlantic (Make Magazine)

From the article, you see that they have formed a robotics startup in San Diego named Seasats.  seasats (https://seasats.com/)

seasats - X3 robot

good luck to them!  I can add them to my list of other startups in the same space. In fact, It has been about 18 months since my original post on offshore robotics companies.  How are they all doing now?

Ladon Robotics - formerly the Ladon Project, might be getting off the shore again. They recently received a Innovation grant from the NSF for autonomous cargo delivery.  Keep an eye out for updates.

SailDrone - Well, they are a BIG thing now.  have a read of their current mapping HQ.

Ok, this is officially an industry!  These guys SailDrone didn't exist a few years ago. now they have huge contracts with NOAA and the State of Florida.  Their drones are about $500k apeace! 

well that takes us to...

Liquid Robotics (a Boeing Company). They too are growing, and performed a large survey for Japan.

Offshore Sensing - seem to still be making business. Their website has great information, but does not have much upto date on missions.  They do seem to have many international sales offices.  As an example, while in spain, this site came up on their website: Grafinita.

Teledyne Marine - The makers of the most impressive underwater low energy vechiles the Slocum Glider. Now has a page for Teledyne Autonomous Surface Vehicles. It looks like this side of their business is not quite as fully developed (as the slocum) but at least in the Market. Interesting, maybe they are just a little too large for this specific innovation. 

smaller companies like:

Seafloor Systems - Specializing in Hydrographic Survey Solutions

Rest of the World:

so, where are their European counterparts?  who is selling to the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, etc.... (!)  Are the Japanese doing this? what about the south China sea?

Ocean Alpha - Hong Kong

YSI - Hycat - 

ecomarinepower - has an ASV. They are a Japanese based company.

Norway:

Maritime Robotics - has a number of solutions.  The Mariner (offshore), The Otter (sheltered waters)

In the totally not evil (military) categories...

Utek - from Spain, mostly USV.  And mostly having a big machine gun mounted on a zodiac. Totally, Not Evil...

L3Harris - with the their C-Worker 5 ASV, it is one of a fleet of ASV. Also with great navigation software.

Market:  according to a market analysis report the market players for USV from 2020:  note, most of these are fro Military applications. (Totally Not Evil...)

• Kongsberg
• Teledyne Technologies (Teledyne Marine)
• ECA Group
• Elbit Systems Ltd.
• Textron Systems
• ASV Global - acquired by L3Harris
• Atlas Elektronik
• Rafael Advanced Defense Systems
• Liquid Robotics

of course this is missing the ones mentioned above, such as Sail Drone and Seasats.

And where did Dan McMillon, from my original post the guy that built the robot that naviated from California to Hawaii, and on to New Zealand, endup?  looks like his own (happy) startup. ;) Blue Trail Engineering. Engineering advice and products for Marine Robotics. Way to go Dan!

And for submersibles, this is still super awesome Hydromea.  Ah, swiss innovation... truly robotics leaders in their own rights.  I just wish I had the backing of an institution like ETH Zurich!

That is all for now, stay posted for more updates in the USV / ASV robotics world!

Sailing Robots of the World

Congratulations to the "SB Met" Autonomous boat for the successful crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.  This is the first "unmanned" sailing robot to win the MicroTransat by crossing the Atlantic Ocean.

SB Met - Ocean Sensing AS Robotic Boat

Here is a nice article about the successful completion written by the San Francisco Chronicle:  Robot boat sails into history by finishing Atlantic crossing

The concept of autonomous boats sailing the Earths Oceans has been developing rapidly over the last few years.  A convergence of robotic technology, remote communications, and better batteries/solar have created an opportunity for new robots that can sail autonomously. These vessels are much more capable than drift buoys, having either sails, motors, or 'wave gliders' to provide propulsion. Adding the in the lowering cost of satellite communications, it is possible to create lower cost sensor platforms that can travel long distances on open water.

There are a few Robotics Challenges that have been created to spur innovation and attempts to make record setting crossings.  The Micro Transat has been running races for teams to compete annually by either Autonomous or "Unmanned" robots crossing the atlantic.  Only this past year have serious competitors been able to complete the journey. "Serious" meaning craft that are built to withstand the beating ocean waves, minimal sunlight, strong currents, and harsh salt water. This year Ocean Sensing AS entered it's "Sailbuoy", a sensor platform built to autonomously withstand the North sea and collect data for days before returning to port.

Robot Challenges:
MicroTransat - https://www.microtransat.org/
World Robotic Sailing Championships - http://www.roboticsailing.org/
The Sailbot competition - http://www.sailbot.org/

There are a few various projects and companies that have been started in the last few years.  Most interesting are the Individuals and groups of Makers that are building Autonomous robot boats.

SeaCharger by Damon McMillian

Damon McMillan had great success when his "SeaCharger" navigated from California to Hawaii, and then from Hawaii to (nearly) New Zealand.

Project Ladon

Project Ladon is also building an Autonomous Boat with intentions of being the first to sail Around the World

The ambitious BlueBird Project is building the SeaVax robot to scoop-up ocean polluting plastics.

There are a few companies that have been created to build Autonomous boats
Sail Drone, Alameda, California:  https://www.saildrone.com/
Ocean Sensing, Bergen, Norway:  http://www.sailbuoy.no/
Liquid Robotics: https://www.liquid-robotics.com/  - makers of the Wave Glider
Teledyne Marine: http://www.teledynemarine.com/slocum-glider - makers of Slocum Gliders

More local applications for environmental monitoring include project and companies like:
Robot-fish made for Project Shoal
Vertex AUV by Hydromea, an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle

There are many more, if you have a favorite system that I did not mention, please post it in the comments section.

It is a wonderful time we live in! It is time to create robots to explore our world and beyond!