An unmanned robot boat following the Mayflower's 1620 voyage landed near Plymouth Rock.
The sleek Mayflower Autonomous Vessel encountered an escort vessel as it approached the Massachusetts coastline on Thursday, more than 400 years after its historic journey from England.
She was towed to Plymouth Harbor (a ship without crew according to US Coast Guard rules ) and was a replica of the original Mayflower that brought pilgrims to the United States. Docked nearby.
There were no captains, navigators, or humans on board the 50-foot trimaran, maneuvered by artificial intelligence technology.
The first attempt by a PV vessel to cross the Atlantic in 2021 suffers from technical problems and is forced to return to its homeport in Plymouth, England. No longer get. The same place where pilgrim settlers set sail in 1620.
Departed from the southwestern coast of England again in April, but due to mechanical problems it was diverted to the Azores Islands in Portugal and then to Canada.
"No one is on board to make the apparently necessary mechanical and physical modifications," said Rob High, IBM's software executive helping the project work. I am saying. "It's also part of the learning process."
On Monday, the ship departed Halifax, Nova Scotia, and successfully completed a four-day trip to Plymouth Harbor.
ProMare, a non-profit marine research organization, has worked with IBM to build ships and use them to collect data on whales, microplastic pollution, and other scientific research. .. A small autonomous experimental vessel has previously crossed the Atlantic Ocean, but researchers describe it as the first vessel of its size.
Completion of the voyage "means that we can start analyzing data from the ship's journey," said Hai, who can delve into the performance of AI systems.
Hai collects "every kind of thing marine scientists care about" as such unoccupied vessels may continue to navigate the ocean. I added that it would be easier.
