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“Mayflower 400” – World’s First Artificial Intelligence Powered Unmanned Ship

Mayflower 400 has created history by becoming the world’s first unmanned vessel that completely runs on Artificial Intelligence. Researchers from a non-profit marine research organization ProMare with IBM as a technology partner built this first of its kind ship. The ship is laced with solar panels, advanced cameras, and radars for smooth functioning. This fully autonomous ship will sail across the Atlantic Ocean and will study the marine pollution – mainly due to plastic, and explore the flora and fauna of the underwater world. In this article, we will discuss some of the prominent features of the Mayflower 400 to reflect its importance.

Mayflower 400, Image Credit: IBM newsroom

400th Anniversary of the Mayflower

The first voyage of the original Mayflower ship took place from Plymouth (England) to America in 1620. To make the 400th Anniversary of the Mayflower journey recognizable, Brett Phaneuf who is the co-founder of ProMare suggested making the world’s first Artificial Intelligence-powered ship known as Mayflower 400. Phaneuf, who put forth the idea of this 21st-century vessel, is himself a submarine builder and has expertise in robotics and underwater systems. The special name Mayflower Autonomous Ship given to this ship reflects the legacy and spirit of 1620 Mayflower.

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Mayflower 400 Instruments Onboard

Mayflower 400 is a ship without a human captain/crew. It has 30 onboard sensors, 6 AI-powered cameras, and 15 edge devices. Controlled by the world’s first AI captain this ship uses Machine Learning based algorithms in its decision-making. This 15-meter long vessel is designed as a trimaran and it weighs 9 tons. Let us now understand some of the technologies incorporated in it.

Artie Chatbot at Mayflower Autonomous Ship, Image Credit: IBM newsroom

A seven-armed octopus chatbot Artie dubbed as the world’s first AI octopus is hitching a ride on Mayflower 400. You can chat with him at MAS400.com

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Mayflower 400 to Make Oceanic Data Accessible to All

If all the ocean combined considered a nation then it becomes the 7th largest economy in the world. There are multiple benefits of the ocean apart from its economic value. The ocean produces oxygen and absorbs carbon dioxide, they also help mitigate environmental and climate change. The increase in sea level, ocean pollution, acidity, the temperature have worsened the situation. To reverse all these effects, the United Nations has declared 2021-2030 to be the Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development. The Mayflower 400 Autonomous Ship is purposed to collect oceanic data to assist in research. Some of the goals are listed below –

All these studies will be conducted with the help of the technological instruments onboard and the data will be made available to all for further research.

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Need of Human Intervention

The launch of Mayflower 400, a fully autonomous unmanned ship, was scheduled for 2020 but was delayed due to COVID-19. The next launch is slated for May 15, 2021, if the weather conditions are favorable for the voyage. However, this unmanned ship has not been tested under rough or stormy weather conditions due to a lack of regulations. In case of any danger to the ship during its voyage, human intervention is needed that can easily be done by the dedicated team which is monitoring the ship 24 hours from England.

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