Unmanned Sailing - What next?

[Hartley18]

It seems like someone with too much money has decided to outfit something with a Tillerpilot and a laptop and see if it makes it to America. Another terrierist plot perhaps?? I wonder if it'll be met by the USCG but they won't be able to turn it back!!..

"London, May 11 (ANI): An unmanned automated boat, known as ” Pinta the robot”, is undergoing final preparations before setting sail in the hope of becoming the first robot to cross an ocean, namely the Atlantic, using the power of wind.

According to a report in The Times, Pinta has been designed by scientists at Aberystwyth University in UK , and will join seven other robotic craft in October in a race across the Atlantic .

The race is intended to test the endurance and reliability of robots away from battery chargers and the predictable environment of a laboratory.

The race across the Atlantic , which starts in October, pits Pinta against seven other robot craft from six countries.

By sailing non-stop and unassisted for an estimated three months, it will prove the potential for robotic craft to undertake vital research in roles in dangerous and far-off waters.

The boat is a smaller, cheaper version of a more elaborate robot sailing boat, Beagle B, and is being used to prove that the onboard technology works.

The boat uses solar panels to provide the power to operate a robot arm on the tiller and a pulley system to change the angle of the sail. Solar panels would provide too little power to run an engine and batteries would run out in days or hours. "

» Automated boat may become first robot to cross an ocean using wind power - Thaindian News

"Pinta the Robot"??

I'm glad Simon is in the Pacific..

[Boasun]

Here in the states the Tech Universities are competing for the first Robot Vehicle to cross a portion of Death valley. Been going on for a few years now and no one has won the prize yet. The vehicles have gotten jambed up in washes, fences, high rocks and so forth.

Now you want a sailboat to cross the Atlantic? The computer on board having to plan on how to tack a course. the various sailing points. When to reduce sail etc. etc. etc. It would need to have true Artificial Intelligence.

Well at least as much intelligence as a monkey.

[merlin2375]

looks like birdface beat you to it:

Link

Interesting article, I hope this robot has a built in EPIRB

[brak]

So, what do you do if you are on collision course with this thing? Does it know how to avoid collisions with ships or small craft?

[Johnrb]

Originally Posted by Boasun

Here in the states the Tech Universities are competing for the first Robot Vehicle to cross a portion of Death valley. Been going on for a few years now and no one has won the prize yet. The vehicles have gotten jambed up in washes, fences, high rocks and so forth.

Now you want a sailboat to cross the Atlantic? The computer on board having to plan on how to tack a course. the various sailing points. When to reduce sail etc. etc. etc. It would need to have true Artificial Intelligence.

Well at least as much intelligence as a monkey.

The event you are referring to is the DARPA Grand Challenge. This was successfully completed in 2005 with about five or six entrants completing the 132 mile course. The winner was Stanley, a VW Toureg from Stanford University. An underdog was doing very well but suffered a punctured tire (stone) partly through the race.

A subsequent urban challenge took place last year where the vehicles had to cover an urban course (closed) complete with traffic, sidewalks, traffic signals etc. The entrants had to obey all traffic rules like stopsigns, red lights, speed limits, etc. Six teams successfully completed the course. The engineering involved in these accomplishments is simply amazing. Here are various links to the DARPA challenges.

YouTube - DARPA Grand Challenge: Final Part 1
YouTube - DARPA Grand Challenge: Final Part 2
DARPA Grand Challenge - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Welcome

[LittleMissMagic]

IN a right of way situation is the robot the stand on vessel?

[merttan]

Where do we buy this thing?

[hellosailor]

The purpose of the DARPA contests, like all things DARPA including the internet, is to build better military weapons. Automating a boat should be a fairly simple exercise compared to the DARPA "cars" which had to be able to halt without running anyone over.

Radio control airplane enthusiasts have built and flown R/C airplanes with about a 6' wing span trans-atlantic, from Newfoundland to Ireland IIRC. The coastal portion under radio control, the big empty spaces by GPS autopilot.

I can just hear the commercial traffic now...I hope those robot boats know how to avoid traffic!

[Hartley18]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

....

I can just hear the commercial traffic now...I hope those robot boats know how to avoid traffic!

I don't reckon it wouldn't matter, really. The usual rule applies: "Give way to anything bigger than you".

Caught in commercial traffic, someone might be lucky to hear a brief thud as the boat goes under the forefoot of a supertanker - but probably not.

[Boasun]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

The purpose of the DARPA contests, like all things DARPA including the internet, is to build better military weapons. Automating a boat should be a fairly simple exercise compared to the DARPA "cars" which had to be able to halt without running anyone over.

Radio control airplane enthusiasts have built and flown R/C airplanes with about a 6' wing span trans-atlantic, from Newfoundland to Ireland IIRC. The coastal portion under radio control, the big empty spaces by GPS autopilot.

I can just hear the commercial traffic now...I hope those robot boats know how to avoid traffic!

It may be Insurance driven. They want to take the control away from supposedly bad drivers and teenagers and thus reduce the payout from all of those premiums. Then they can collect the premiums and never have to pay out any money what so ever.