Mayflower Autonomous Ship or MAS: Although self-driving cars have been making headlines in recent years, there are other forms of autonomous transportation.
This month, IBM and Promise, One organization of marine research based in United Kingdom – will test a prototype artificial intelligence (AI) marine navigation system ahead of the Sept. 6 argument aimed at an autonomous voyage across the Atlantic like the one made by the original Mayflower 400 years ago.
The original Mayflower ship, in 1620, transported the first English settlers to the United States, traveling from Plymouth in the United Kingdom to present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts.
The Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS), on the other hand, will uses ηλιακή και αιολική energy, along with a backup diesel generator.
The first Mayflower traveled at a maximum speed of about 2,5 knots and took about two months to reach its destination. The upgraded version moves with 20 nodes and will arrive in less than two weeks.
The mission, first announced last October, aims to address all obstacles to navigating a ship, but without human intervention.
The AI Captain, as it is called, will not always be able to rely on GPS and satellite connectivity, and data processing will have to be done in real time. This is why all AI and smart navigation need to be on board, making every key calculation available all the time, essential to business success.
"Calculation is a critical factor in building a stand-alone ship like the Mayflower," said Rob High, CTO of IBM.
"The ship must feel its environment, make smart decisions about every situation and then act in the shortest amount of time - even with the presence of intermittent connections, while keeping everything safe from cyberthreats."
The team behind the new Mayflower has been training the boat's AI models in recent years, using millions of nautical images collected by Plymouth Sound cameras, as well as other open source date seven.
For the engineering learning, the ship uses an IBM Power AC922 system, which is used in some of the world's largest AI supercomputers. Alongside IBM's PowerAI Vision, Mayflower's Captain AI is built to detect and locate ships and buoys – as well as other hazards such as debris – and make instant decisions about what to do next.
