What could possibly go wrong?

[StuM]

Initially:

https://newsroom.ibm.com/2020-09-15-...-Ship-Launches
"MAS features an AI Captain built by ProMare and IBM developers which gives MAS the ability to sense, think and make decisions at sea with no human captain or onboard crew."

And now:
https://www.theregister.com/2021/06/...tonomous_ship/
A 15-metre-long autonomous human-free ship has begun a 3,000-odd-mile trip from the UK to the US to recreate the historic Mayflower voyage of 1620.
The Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS), named after the 17th century vessel that took more than 100 passengers from England to the present day's Massachusetts in America, set sail this week. It was launched from the seaside town Plymouth on Tuesday at 0400 UTC, and if all goes to plan, it’ll reach its American counterpart, the coastal city of Plymouth, MA, in a few weeks.
Built by Promare, a maritime non-profit, with technical support from IBM, the Mayflower has been testing its sailing and navigation skills since September last year to prepare for this trip. It uses radar to detect objects within 2.5 nautical miles, and a suite of cameras connected to an object-recognition system. This machine-learning software has been trained to identify cargo ships, fishing vessels, and floating shipping containers.

[BlueH2Obound]

Regarding the title of this thread . . . . Hmmmmmm, how much time do you have?

[shimari]

The dashboard for it is pretty cool

https://mas400.com/dashboard

[Calif.Ted]

A friend got a weird AIS target outside the Golden Gate bridge, SD25 or some such, looking it up returned "Saildrone 25". So turns out they got a whole fleet of 23' autonomous sailing drones with any kind of mission for up to 12 months. Everything from research to national security.
https://www.saildrone.com/technology/vehicles

[StuM]

Originally Posted by Calif.Ted

A friend got a weird AIS target outside the Golden Gate bridge, SD25 or some such, looking it up returned "Saildrone 25". So turns out they got a whole fleet of 23' autonomous sailing drones with any kind of mission for up to 12 months. Everything from research to national security.
https://www.saildrone.com/technology/vehicles

One difference in their case:
"Saildrone USVs are under the constant supervision of a human pilot via satellite and navigate autonomously from prescribed waypoint to waypoint, accounting for wind and currents, while staying within a user-defined safety corridor"

[fivecapes]

“We’re testing the system, but it is designed to be COLREG compliant and should spot things as small as a man in a rowboat and be able to avoid it,” said Brett Phaneuf, co-director of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship project.

“There will always be a low-bandwidth satellite connection so that we may assist the vessel should it ask for help. Its prime directive is ‘don’t hit anything’,” added Phaneuf.

[Calif.Ted]

Originally Posted by fivecapes

“We’re testing the system, but it is designed to be COLREG compliant and should spot things as small as a man in a rowboat and be able to avoid it,” said Brett Phaneuf, co-director of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship project.

“There will always be a low-bandwidth satellite connection so that we may assist the vessel should it ask for help. Its prime directive is ‘don’t hit anything’,” added Phaneuf.

When training people to drive fire engines our prime directive was "Don't hit anything and don't let anything hit you."

[LittleWing77]

Okay, here's one: a bunch of yobbos get three sheets-to-the-wind, take their cigarette (or equivalent high-powered, exceptionally fast speedboat) and go out to play slalom and/or keep-away with the MAS - just for a little fun.

This is the second thread I've responded to this morning where the impetus would be taking humans out of the equation (thus not having the bother of having to deal with - or pay - employees) is at the root of a corporate entity's actions.

In this case it's under the guise of innovation. In the second case, it's under the guise of denying rightfully owed insurance reimbursement.

Okay, I'll shut up now.

As you can see, Stu, you've found my Achilles heel...!

LW77

[NaClyDog]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

This is the second thread I've responded to this morning where the impetus would be taking humans out of the equation (thus not having the bother of having to deal with - or pay - employees) is at the root of a corporate entity's actions.

I don't think this is a fair or accurate statement.


You will still need humans... yes, they may be doing something different but humans are still required for automated whatevers.

[Pete7]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

Okay, here's one: a bunch of yobbos get three sheets-to-the-wind, take their cigarette (or equivalent high-powered, exceptionally fast speedboat) and go out to play slalom and/or keep-away with the MAS - just for a little fun. LW77

Or just plain steal it. After all has this thing got lots of electronics, lithium batteries and solar panels.

Love to hear the 911 call

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

Okay, here's one: a bunch of yobbos get three sheets-to-the-wind, take their cigarette (or equivalent high-powered, exceptionally fast speedboat) and go out to play slalom and/or keep-away with the MAS - just for a little fun.

This is the second thread I've responded to this morning where the impetus would be taking humans out of the equation (thus not having the bother of having to deal with - or pay - employees) is at the root of a corporate entity's actions.

So what's different? Those yobbos are doing the same with boats that have people on them now.

Yes, in the long run it will take people out of the equation. People are expensive to keep around and they are often unreliable. But it also allows design changes because it doesn't have to accommodate humans. For a small long range research vessel, no need for food stores, sleeping spaces, galley, head, etc... All that space and cargo capacity can be rerouted to the mission. They can eliminate life lines and the deck can be optimized for the work.

Also, you can send it out into conditions that you wouldn't consider doing with humans. There's the old saying that you will give out long before the boat...well if you are doing research cold miserable conditions, with a human crew, that may not be possible due to safety risks.

As far as people stealing it...as soon as they board, the cameras send the position and pictures of the pirates and call in the authorities.

Will there be some hicups before super tankers are fully automated? Sure but it's coming. Honestly, open ocean, there aren't many yobbos in cigarette boats.

[s/v Jedi]

I think the self driving cars and now self sailing boats are the only hope for our future generations. I mean, they’re too brain damaged from drugs or perhaps too stupid to do it themselves anymore. Examination standards are being lowered continuously to not have them fail en masse so there’s not much else to try

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Pete7

Or just plain steal it. After all has this thing got lots of electronics, lithium batteries and solar panels.

Love to hear the 911 call

Another thought on this...
- Traditional ship: The crew is taken hostage off the coast of Somalia. It's a standoff as they don't want the crew injured or killed. Eventually (often quietly), they pay off the pirates encouraging more piracy.
- AI ship: The navy goes in guns blazing and makes an example of the pirates.

Plus there is no traditional helm, so the pirates have no means to navigate back to their base. The ship delivers them to the nearest navy ship for capture.

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by NaClyDog

I don't think this is a fair or accurate statement.

You will still need humans... yes, they may be doing something different but humans [will still be] required...

Thanks for that reminder, SaltyDawg. I do hope so.

I guess what I'm seeing in the overall trend across all societies is that humans are being removed. Consequently, everyone is feeling very alienated and isolated.

What is one of the impacts? We see it here every week: yet another newbie who is going to buy a boat and sail away - or buy a boat to connect with our sailing community.

"Corporatization" is one of the contributing factors. Roger Waters of Pink Floyd had this response just yesterday:

Roger Waters' response to the World's "Powerful Idiots"
https://tribune.com.pk/story/2305729...s-in-the-world

This is probably my most political post in all my years on this Forum, so I really will stop now, but I will never be in favour of the systematic removal of humans from our own society in the purported name of technological advancement.

Fair winds to my fellow sailors,
Warmly,
LittleWing77

[CaptTom]

I think Jedi has a good point. I've seen how people drive cars and boats, and I for one look forward to seeing them away from the steering wheel and helm.

I don't blame any particular generation though. Believe me, there are dangerous operators in all age groups.

But it is true that kids growing up these days don't seem as interested in learning those skills. I can't imagine a 15-year-old not being anxious to learn to drive. But many these days aren't. Likewise, many kids and young adults don't seem interested in learning a trade. Every industry is desperate for workers in well-paying trades, but there are few applicants. Oh well. Some day they'll figure out they can't all be investment bankers and YouTube stars. I have faith. It's their world now. They'll work it out.

Update: What could go wrong? Now I'm asking what did go wrong?

I just looked at their web site, current location page. It appears the boat has done a 180 and is heading back toward England.