Fleet of autonomous boats could service some cities, reducing road traffic

The future of transportation in waterway-rich cities such as Amsterdam, Bangkok, and Venice - where canals run alongside and under bustling streets and bridges - may include autonomous boats that ferry goods and people, helping clear up road congestion. Researchers from MIT's Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) and the Senseable City Lab in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning (DUSP), have taken a step toward that future by designing a fleet of autonomous boats that offer high maneuverability and precise control. The boats can also be rapidly 3-D printed using a low-cost printer, making mass manufacturing more feasible. The boats could be used to taxi people around and to deliver goods, easing street traffic. In the future, the researchers also envision the driverless boats being adapted to perform city services overnight, instead of during busy daylight hours, further reducing congestion on both roads and canals. "Imagine shifting some of infrastructure services that usually take place during the day on the road - deliveries, garbage management, waste management - to the middle of the night, on the water, using a fleet of autonomous boats," says CSAIL Director Daniela Rus, co-author on a paper describing the technology that's being presented at this week's IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation. Moreover, the boats - rectangular 4-by-2-meter hulls equipped with sensors, microcontrollers, GPS modules, and other hardware - could be programmed to self-assemble into floating bridges, concert stages, platforms for food markets, and other structures in a matter of hours.