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> Like trains, autonomous ships fundamentally doesn’t seem to make any sense. Autonomous trains already exist, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_driver
by cesarb 3y ago
> Like trains, autonomous ships fundamentally doesn’t seem to make any sense.
Autonomous trains already exist, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_driverless_train_systems https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_driverless_train_syste... for a long list of places where it's been implemented. The related article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_train_operation#Advantages_of_GoA3+ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_train_operation#Adva... has a list with six advantages of autonomous trains. Many of these advantages would probably also apply to autonomous ships (and other kinds of vehicles).
- ghaff 3y agoIn spite of the intro, those seem to pretty much be all people-mover/metro systems. They're not long distance transport in potentially unpredictable conditions.
- GauntletWizard 3y agoAnd none of them are without support crew; The crew just doesn't need to ride on the train itself, but rather waits in stations or in depots along the tracks.
- ghaff 3y agoRight. You don't always need to have a driver potentially doing nothing 99% of the time. But you probably have remote and station staff a lot of the time.
- seanmcdirmid 3y agoI’m not sure why container ships couldn’t be piloted remote if drones are. It’s just that it is cheap to hire a bunch of sailors from the Philippines so automation isn’t really necessary.
- ghaff 3y agoYou probably want at least some on-site supervision. And most of your sailors are probably cheap anyway.