Meet Roboat - an innovative robot boat from Amsterdam [video]
Residents of Amsterdam may soon see a self-propelled watercraft the size of a small car cruising silently along ancient canals, carrying passengers, goods or garbage (the main thing is not to mix it up). It will be an electrically powered "Roboat".
The project aims to improve the urban transport situation in this particular city by adding local waterways to the overall urban transport network.
"We have a lot of traffic and congestion, with e-commerce and logistics clogging up the city's small streets," says Stefan van Dijk, director of innovation at Amsterdam's Institute for Advanced Urban Solutions, which is developing and designing Roboat with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). "At the same time, we have a lot of open water in the canals. So we designed a self-propelled, autonomous vessel designed to help with logistics in the city as well as transporting people."
Roboat's technical details are available on the project website, including battery performance and a wireless charging system.
Below the waterline, the boat is arranged like an inverted aerial drone: two propellers, fore and aft, and two thrusters on either side of the bow allow it to maneuver nimbly, including an extremely smooth docking. Laser imaging at the front, GPS systems, and multiple cameras on the sides aid in positioning. Roboat programming is done from computers on shore.
In addition, Roboats are designed to connect into long floating "trains." According to Van Dijk, this will open up possibilities for more diverse uses, such as creating a floating concert stage, a temporary bridge, forming a barge or, in the offshore version, locating an oil spill.