4 ms·

I'm really surprised autonomous recreational boats are not something yet. There are plenty of canals and rivers with day boats and holiday boats going about slo

I'm really surprised autonomous recreational boats are not something yet. There are plenty of canals and rivers with day boats and holiday boats going about slowly around the 3-6mph speed limits which would make ideal candidates as this is a very limited contained environment. At the very least the insurance companies could be insisting on some sort of crash avoidance guidance/control system to avoid boats from getting damaged whilst protecting riverside property.

leobg 5y ago
Isn’t the point of recreational boating that you drive it yourself? Like with turning the meats when barbecuing? We daddies need something important to do. :)
- Terry_Roll 5y ago
  You arent allowed to drink and drive and when people go on a boating holiday that becomes inevitable. Besides it can get quite boring pottering around at 3-6mph on a canal or river, the novelty can wear off quickly especially if its raining and you have to stand at the back steering a canal boat. So why not have some sort of autonomous guidance system? At least it can become more pleasant in bad weather and opens up the holiday season a bit more for those who are happy to sit inside and see the world go by from the comfort of the inside of the boat. In a way, its why coach/bus holidays exist, the tour guide on the coach points out the sights whilst you relax in the comfort of your own seat, but having your own space, like a boat can also it make it relaxing especially if you dont want to be around other people. A coach holiday can still feel like a train commute into London, but with a seat. Another area of development which the car manufacturers might want to develop, is radio controlled cars kits with active suspension and aerodynamics with some sort of AI/coding control. Like a Formula1 championship but radio controlled model cars. It could sow those seeds for kids to learn to code and then test their code on a race circuit.
  - leobg 5y ago
    You’re right. At least the option to turn on autopilot would certainly be nice to have. It doesn’t have to be one way or the other. Re: R/C autonomous toys. I think these already exist. You can build them yourself from a raspberry pi. And I think there are also kits for autonomous robots. Haven’t heard of racing cars, but small robot creatures for indoor use. I don’t remember any names of brands.
- comprev 5y ago
  Automated parking has already proven successful in personal vehicles so perhaps that technology could be applied to boats, both sail and motor? Not everyone has the luxury of a bow thruster in tight spaces!
notahacker 5y ago
Canals (or at least narrow, shallow British-style canals) would be a surprisingly difficult environment to design an automated system for. Vessels whose awkward handling is heavily affected by highly variable wind, water depth and proximity to banks, overhanging branches, floating rubbish and interactions with other boats whose unpredictable behaviour is usually understood by talking to them. Given the delayed response because 20 ton boats have massive inertia, and can be blown sideways even when brought to a halt I'm not even sure reliable crash avoidance is possible. Plus the real hard work (and risk to humans) is the mooring and the locks. Certainly a semi or mostly automated system would have its advantages, but not necessarily enough to justify the costs of actually training it for a very small niche market dominated by people proud of using obsolete tech. Autonomous shipping on the other hand...
- algo_trader 5y ago
  Do you have any info/links on autonomous shipping ? Deep sea autonomy should be a .. breeze (ha!). Last mile is obviously a different beast. Maybe the trend to larger ships makes autonomy just not worth it. Crew cost is fairly marginal. AFAIK shipping is fairly legacy and regulation-bound, with captains filling in excels and emailing them daily to HQ. EDIT: i recall a Norwegian cargo ferry doing a daily near- shore route. kudos to them
vel0city 5y ago
While not canal boats, some yachts do have varying amount of automation. Some have waypoint systems tied into radar/vision collision avoidance systems which will guide the boat through a series of waypoints and attempt to avoid hitting anything on the water. Obviously you're supposed to still be alert and in control of the boat, but automated systems for cruising around a more open area definitely exists. You definitely wouldn't want to trust it for any place even slightly crowded though. On a big yacht you'll want to respond to changes quite quickly, and many of those automated collision detection systems are far from perfect.

leobg 5y ago

Isn’t the point of recreational boating that you drive it yourself? Like with turning the meats when barbecuing? We daddies need something important to do. :)

Terry_Roll 5y ago
You arent allowed to drink and drive and when people go on a boating holiday that becomes inevitable. Besides it can get quite boring pottering around at 3-6mph on a canal or river, the novelty can wear off quickly especially if its raining and you have to stand at the back steering a canal boat. So why not have some sort of autonomous guidance system? At least it can become more pleasant in bad weather and opens up the holiday season a bit more for those who are happy to sit inside and see the world go by from the comfort of the inside of the boat. In a way, its why coach/bus holidays exist, the tour guide on the coach points out the sights whilst you relax in the comfort of your own seat, but having your own space, like a boat can also it make it relaxing especially if you dont want to be around other people. A coach holiday can still feel like a train commute into London, but with a seat. Another area of development which the car manufacturers might want to develop, is radio controlled cars kits with active suspension and aerodynamics with some sort of AI/coding control. Like a Formula1 championship but radio controlled model cars. It could sow those seeds for kids to learn to code and then test their code on a race circuit.
- leobg 5y ago
  You’re right. At least the option to turn on autopilot would certainly be nice to have. It doesn’t have to be one way or the other. Re: R/C autonomous toys. I think these already exist. You can build them yourself from a raspberry pi. And I think there are also kits for autonomous robots. Haven’t heard of racing cars, but small robot creatures for indoor use. I don’t remember any names of brands.
comprev 5y ago
Automated parking has already proven successful in personal vehicles so perhaps that technology could be applied to boats, both sail and motor? Not everyone has the luxury of a bow thruster in tight spaces!

notahacker 5y ago

Canals (or at least narrow, shallow British-style canals) would be a surprisingly difficult environment to design an automated system for. Vessels whose awkward handling is heavily affected by highly variable wind, water depth and proximity to banks, overhanging branches, floating rubbish and interactions with other boats whose unpredictable behaviour is usually understood by talking to them. Given the delayed response because 20 ton boats have massive inertia, and can be blown sideways even when brought to a halt I'm not even sure reliable crash avoidance is possible. Plus the real hard work (and risk to humans) is the mooring and the locks. Certainly a semi or mostly automated system would have its advantages, but not necessarily enough to justify the costs of actually training it for a very small niche market dominated by people proud of using obsolete tech. Autonomous shipping on the other hand...

algo_trader 5y ago
Do you have any info/links on autonomous shipping ? Deep sea autonomy should be a .. breeze (ha!). Last mile is obviously a different beast. Maybe the trend to larger ships makes autonomy just not worth it. Crew cost is fairly marginal. AFAIK shipping is fairly legacy and regulation-bound, with captains filling in excels and emailing them daily to HQ. EDIT: i recall a Norwegian cargo ferry doing a daily near- shore route. kudos to them

vel0city 5y ago

While not canal boats, some yachts do have varying amount of automation. Some have waypoint systems tied into radar/vision collision avoidance systems which will guide the boat through a series of waypoints and attempt to avoid hitting anything on the water. Obviously you're supposed to still be alert and in control of the boat, but automated systems for cruising around a more open area definitely exists. You definitely wouldn't want to trust it for any place even slightly crowded though. On a big yacht you'll want to respond to changes quite quickly, and many of those automated collision detection systems are far from perfect.