The American MIT University and the Amsterdam AMS Institute have been working in the research program for four years Roboat to autonomous boats for transporting people and goods. The Roboats could already link themselves together to create a floating construction for all kinds of applications, like bridges, to shape.
The latest version of the Roboat can also carry passengers. This has been tested on the Amsterdam canals, for example. In this version, the autonomous boat only has room for two people. The vessel can move in any direction and has a variety of sensors to help navigate the water independently, including GPS and LiDAR.
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Waves and currents
The team of scientists is working on a larger version of the Roboat that can independently transport four to six people. According to the researchers, the software needs to be further improved to cope with strong currents and large waves.
The robot boat must also be able to ‘understand’ even better which objects it encounters on the cruises. It has not yet been announced when the large version of the Roboat will be tested in Amsterdam.
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