Robotics & Automation News

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Robot designed by WHOI to explore underwater glacial walls to monitor climate change

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It’s the front line of climate change and could hold the key to predicting global sea level rise, but what goes on at the underwater face of Greenland’s glaciers is a mystery to science.

That could change in 2023 with a bold new mission led by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin that will explore three of Greenland’s glaciers with a submersible robot.

The voyage will be the first time Greenland’s glaciers – which make up the world’s second-largest ice sheet – will be seen up close underwater. [Read more…] about Robot designed by WHOI to explore underwater glacial walls to monitor climate change

Rolls-Royce and Sea Machines partner to develop smart ship and autonomous ship control solutions

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Rolls-Royce and Sea Machines Robotics have agreed a collaboration that they say will deliver “comprehensive remote command, autonomous control and intelligent crew support systems to the marine market” and complement Rolls-Royce’s mtu NautIQ marine automation portfolio.

The companies say the plan is to provide customers with “complete automation solutions from a single trusted source”.

As part of this agreement, Rolls-Royce business unit Power Systems and Sea Machines, the leading developer of remote-vessel command and autonomous control systems, will join forces on the development and sale of fully and semi-autonomous vessel control systems. [Read more…] about Rolls-Royce and Sea Machines partner to develop smart ship and autonomous ship control solutions

Tas Global commercializes ‘world’s first’ ship hull cleaning robot system

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A startup company called Tas Global is commercializing what it says is the world’s only robot capable of cleaning freely on curved surfaces.

The company has registered more than 30 patents in 16 countries including the US on the journey to bringing the robotic system to market.

Selected as a South Korean government project, Tas started by developing technology for processing organisms attached on a ship’s hull. [Read more…] about Tas Global commercializes ‘world’s first’ ship hull cleaning robot system

CMU’s Snakebot goes for a swim: Biorobotics Lab builds submersible robot snake

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Carnegie Mellon University’s acclaimed snake-like robot can now slither its way underwater, allowing the modular robotics platform to inspect ships, submarines and infrastructure for damage. 

A team from the Biorobotics Lab in the School of Computer Science’s Robotics Institute tested the Hardened Underwater Modular Robot Snake (HUMRS) last month in the university’s pool, diving the robot through underwater hoops, showing off its precise and smooth swimming, and demonstrating its ease of control.

“We can go places that other robots cannot,” said Howie Choset, the Kavčić-Moura Professor of Computer Science. “It can snake around and squeeze into hard-to-reach underwater spaces.” [Read more…] about CMU’s Snakebot goes for a swim: Biorobotics Lab builds submersible robot snake

Chinese shipbuilder integrates autonomous navigation system

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Chinese shipbuilder Jiangnan Shipyards Group is integrating autonomous navigation system into its new vessels, according to RivieraMM.com.

The company ordered the integrated automation and control systems from a company called Høglund Marine Solutions, based in Norway.

Integrated automation and control systems, or IACS, are hardware-plus-software solutions that are designed to meet the complete range of automation and control tasks on board modern vessels, according to Høglund. [Read more…] about Chinese shipbuilder integrates autonomous navigation system

Mitsubishi and Shin Nihonkai Ferry to develop unmanned ship navigation system

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Mitsubishi Shipbuilding, part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Group, is collaborating with Shin Nihonkai Ferry to jointly develop autonomous ships.

The two companies have successfully applied for grant aid under the Joint Technological Development Programme for the Demonstration of Unmanned Ships, sponsored by The Nippon Foundation.

With this support, the two companies say they will commence co-development of underlying technologies and systems to enable unmanned ship navigation in the future. [Read more…] about Mitsubishi and Shin Nihonkai Ferry to develop unmanned ship navigation system

Silicon Sensing to provide navigation technology for Mayflower autonomous ship

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Two Silicon Sensing Systems ultra-precise AMU30 inertial measurement units (IMUs) will provide critical navigation data to the autopilot capability for the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) throughout her milestone trans-Atlantic voyage this autumn.

Setting sail this September, the 15 meter-long, 5-ton MAS400 will repeat the Mayflower’s original epic voyage 400 years ago. Led by marine research organization ProMare and powered by IBM, she will sail from Plymouth, England to Plymouth Massachusetts, USA.

Instead of a captain and crew, she will use computer vision, machine learning, edge technologies and sensors to navigate and detect hazards.  [Read more…] about Silicon Sensing to provide navigation technology for Mayflower autonomous ship

Autonomous ships ahoy!

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Advancements in artificial intelligence have brought autonomous ships onto the horizon

In the world where tech giants such as Google, Tesla, and Uber are eager to see driverless cars roaming on the street, the time is close when autonomous ships would dominate oceans.

After conquering land and air, autonomous vehicles (AVs) would soon dive into the seas.

Thanks to the collaboration of Finferries and Rolls-Royce the world has seen a glimpse of the bright future of autonomous ships, making it certain that the marine world would definitely see automation taking over the waterways. [Read more…] about Autonomous ships ahoy!

IBM joins the Mayflower autonomous ship project

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IBM has joined a global consortium of partners, led by marine research organization ProMare, that are building an unmanned, fully-autonomous ship that will cross the Atlantic in September 2020, on the fourth centenary of the original Mayflower voyage 400 years ago.

The Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) will use IBM’s Power servers, AI, cloud and edge computing technologies to navigate autonomously and avoid ocean hazards as it makes its way from Plymouth, England to Plymouth, Massachusetts.

If successful, it will be one of the first self-navigating, full-sized vessels to cross the Atlantic Ocean and will open the door on a new era of autonomous research ships. [Read more…] about IBM joins the Mayflower autonomous ship project

Airships: Ready to fly high again after a century of suspicion

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futuristic-airship

The Hindenburg disaster, in which a massive German airship caught fire while landing in the US, resulting in the deaths of 36 people, occurred in 1937, but even today it’s remembered and thought of as the reason why airships never took to the skies in large numbers. 

The powerful images of the accident left many who viewed them with the impression that airships were dangerous, partly because they were filled with gas lighter than air.

But whereas the Hindenburg was filled with a flammable gas, modern airships are not – they haven’t been for many decades.  [Read more…] about Airships: Ready to fly high again after a century of suspicion