An tech company based in the USA is planning to test unmanned water taxis in the UK once the coronavirus lockdown is over and has selected Plymouth for its first trial.
Buffalo Automaton, which hails from Buffalo in New York state, has been developing artificial intelligence (AI) autonomous navigation technology called AutoMate. The system uses AI technology, cameras and sensors to pilot boats without a human driver being on board.
Thiru Vikram, chief executive of Buffalo Automation, said the company is planning to test driverless water taxis in Plymouth and is looking to demonstrate how they will work during the summer of 2020, once the coronavirus contagion has passed.
He said: “As the world pauses and resets in these challenging times, our team is leveraging our solitude to focus and think more deeply about our mission.
“To solve the dual problems of carbon emissions and traffic congestion in our cities, Buffalo Automation is now planning to launch unmanned electric water taxis in Plymouth.
“This is to complement our ongoing effort to make cargo ships more automated using AI that can enable future operation from the shore, making the human crew safe from maritime accidents, pandemics and other occupational hazards.
“We will be demonstrating our self-driving speedboat to the public to give people an idea of what riding in a driverless water taxi would be like.”
He added: “The first useful self-driving vehicle will be a boat, not a car.”
Buffalo Automation was founded by Thiru Vikram, Alexander Zhitelzeyf and Emilie Reynolds, when they were engineering students at the The State University of New York at Buffalo. They took their university research project and turned it into a company in 2015.
The AutoMate system allows “autonomous identification” and safe navigation around stationary objects, swimmers, and other vessels within 24 nautical miles of the boat.
Initially developed as a fleet management and autopilot solution for the commercial shipping industry, the technology has since been adapted for use with recreational boats, including yachts and motorboats.
Initial tests were performed in 2015, using a 16ft-long catamaran equipped with the AutoMate system. In early 2018, Buffalo Automation began tests of a 22ft-long autonomous pleasure boat made by Sea Ray, a boat manufacturer owned by the Brunswick Boat Group. The firm also expanded its sales focus to Europe.
Robot boats are not a new concept in Plymouth. A high-tech, EU-funded unmanned vessel has already been made available for small and mid-sized South West businesses to use for research and development.
CETUS, a C-Worker 4 unmanned surface vehicle, was bought by the University of Plymouth in 2019 and is now available for staff, students and businesses to conduct innovative marine research within the Smart Sound Plymouth offshore proving area.
Meanwhile, global defence giant Thales opened a £1million base at Plymstock in 2018 where it tests robotic boats for dealing with sea-borne mines.
The French multinational opened a trials and training centre at Turnchapel Wharf as part of a “major commitment” to developing autonomous and unmanned technology for use in the air and on sea – in other words, robotic vessels.
And there were plans for a cutting-edge, £1 million robot ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean unmanned in 2020 to commemorate 400 years since the maiden voyage of the Mayflower to the USA.
The Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) has been designed for a pioneering, 2,750-mile trip. The 15-metre long, catamaran-style ship will be powered by state-of-the-art renewable energy.
It will be unmanned but will have marine AI on board, and will be steered from a control room in Plymouth, Devon - where the original Mayflower set off from.
However, plans are likely to have been affected by the outbreak of coronavirus in the UK and USA.
