Residents: inside and visitors: inside Amsterdam could soon travel through the canals of the Dutch metropolis in an autonomous taxi boat. Scientists from the CSAIL (Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory) at MIT and the Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions in Amsterdam are currently testing a version of their boat called Roboat, which comes very close to the autonomous taxi boats planned in the future.
Taxi boat drives autonomously through Amsterdam’s canals
In 2015 the scientists had: inside Small prototypes of the autonomous taxi boat launched at MIT for the first time. Last year they then tested a two-meter-long, medium-sized model that gave satisfactory results in terms of navigation. Roboat III is now the third test stage of the Taxiboot project. A total of two fully functional autonomous taxi boats are now sailing through the canals of Amsterdam. The boats can transport up to five people, fish garbage out of the water and transport goods, as reported by MIT.
The battery built into the boat is the size of a small chest and should provide enough power for up to ten hours of travel time. In addition, the fully electrically powered boat should be able to be charged wirelessly. The boat orients itself via GPS and thus selects a safe route to the destination. It constantly checks the environment with lidar sensors and 360-degree cameras so as not to collide with other boats, bridges or canal walls. The algorithms behind it are still being trained, for example when it comes to recognizing a canoe.
Roboat: QR code guides the taxi boat to the landing site
In order to maneuver the boats to certain landing locations or to other boats where they can safely dock, the MIT scientists use special QR codes. The boat recognizes this with the help of small cameras. According to the developers, the boat can be used around the clock. How the Roboat will continue after the first tests in public space, i.e. in the canals of Amsterdam’s old town, is still unclear.
Roboat cannot drive really autonomously for a short time. Rather, it is currently still monitored from a central control center, similar to the way the Vay telephony service in Hamburg intends to use carsharing cars. However, in the case of the roboat, the person does not have to control the boat, but can monitor over 50 boats at the same time.
