Read the article in Maritime Netherlands about the development of an autonomous sailing RHIB by MARIN. The first two tests in the port of Rotterdam were positive. But every step forward raises many new questions. “We want to understand what an autonomous ship needs,” says Egbert Ypma, team leader Autonomy & Decision Support.
It is a special sight. The man on the six-meter-long RHIB holds tight to the hefty scaffolding on which, among other things, a radar and AIS are mounted, but he does not operate the boat. The RHIB seems to sail autonomously through the port of Rotterdam – left, right, turn, and so on. In reality it is a test by the Wageningen research institute Marin. The RHIB is controlled from the side. In a first test, someone leads the RHIB through the harbor as a radio controlled boat. The second time, the RHIB receives waypoints, geographical points in the port along which the boat must sail. The man on board is only there to be able to intervene in an emergency.
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