ProMare, a non-profit ocean research organization, and IBM have announced the completion and commissioning of the autonomous ship Mayflower, a solar-powered artificial intelligence (AI) -based marine research vessel that will traverse the oceans and collect essential environmental data. . After two years of design, construction and training, the new fully autonomous ship set sail on Thursday 17th September from the coast of Plymouth, England, beginning its journey. The new generation ship Mayflower promises to transform oceanography by working together with scientists and other autonomous vessels.
The mission wants to shed light on critical issues such as global warming, microplastic pollution and the conservation of marine mammals. ProMare is coordinating with IBM Research and other industry-leading scientific organizations to achieve this. The autonomous Mayflower ship features an AI-based captain designed by ProMare and IBM developers, providing the ship with the ability to perceive, think and make decisions at sea without a human captain or crew on board. The new class of marine AI is supported by the latest advanced computing systems from IBM, automation software, computer vision technology and open source software from Red Hat.
How to keep track of the autonomous boat
So that anyone in the world can follow the route and keep up to date with the news that occurs on the ship during its missions, IBM and ProMare have created an interactive web portal https://mas400.com. Designed by IBM iX, the business design arm of IBM Services, and based on IBM Watson Assistant technology, this platform is designed to provide live updates on the location of the ship, environmental conditions and data from its various research projects. Real-time weather data will also be transmitted by IBM’s The Weather Company, as the autonomous ship is receiving forecast data and information from the new IBM Weather Operations Center.
The portal also features Artie, a seven-legged octopus-shaped chatbot who claims to be doing “topboats.” Created in association with the European startup Chatbotbay, Artie has been trained to provide information about the autonomous ship Mayflower and its adventures in an animated and accessible format.
Smart portal Mas400.com
“MAS400.com is one of the most advanced ocean mission web portals ever created,” said Fredrik Soreide, scientific director of the Mayflower autonomous ship project and a member of the ProMare board. “Protecting the ocean depends on our ability to engage society in important issues affecting its health. This MAS400 portal is designed to do exactly that and will inform the public of where the ship is, how fast it is traveling, at what conditions he’s operating and what research we’re conducting. Users can even help Artie fish for surgical masks, cigarette butts, and other marine debris from a virtual ocean of facts and data. “
The autonomous ship Mayflower will spend the next six months at sea and conduct several research missions and voyages before attempting to cross the Atlantic in the spring of 2021. The autonomous vessel’s transatlantic voyage will be based on a route and pioneering spirit similar to those of of the Mayflower of 1620, which made the same journey 400 years ago.
Mayflower autonomous ship details
Although dozens of details of the autonomous boat could be highlighted, it is important to remember that it does not have anyone on board, and it does have an octopus; it has more than 30 sensors and six artificial intelligence cameras, a length of 15 meters and a width of 6.2 meters, in addition to being able to navigate at a maximum speed of 10 knots; it weighs five tons and the hull design is a trimaran or central hull with two rocker arms, and the electric motor is powered by solar energy.
The computer that runs it is an IBM with edge computing technology, automation software and data from The Weather Company. The hardware is made up of 6 Jetson AGX Xavier, 2 Jetson Xavier NX, 4 computers with Intel processors, and 4 custom microprocessor systems. And the navigation equipment is made up of a precision GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System), IMU (Inertial Measurement Units), a radar, a weather station, SATCOM and AIS.
