Nearly a quarter of the Amsterdam city is covered by water, with hundreds of kilometers of canals winding through the municipality. So, when everybody is busy with self-driving cars, Amsterdam is interested in self-driving boats. Amsterdam Institute for Metropolitan Solutions (AMS) has launched a five year research programme on self-driving boats.

Das Massachusetts Institute of Technology will die erste autonome Schiffsflotte der Welt ins Wasser bringen. Dazu kooperiert die Forschungs-Institution mit den niederländischen Hochschulen in Delft und Wageningen, zudem wurden auch der Wasserversorger waternet sowie die Städte Amsterdam und Boston an Bord geholt.

Autonomous cars are generating a lot of headlines at the moment, but they aren't the only vehicles being freed from the shackles of human control. In what is billed as the world's first major research program on autonomous floating vessels in metropolitan areas, autonomous boats will soon be deployed to self-navigate the winding canals of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Nearly a quarter of Amsterdam is covered by a canal system traversed for personal and commercial use in much the same way it was hundreds of years ago. Little surprise then that the next technology push in the pedestrian- and bike-friendly Dutch metropolis ignores autonomous cars for self-driving boats.

Self-driving car prototypes are already roaming the streets, and autonomous boats are about to hit the waters next year. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has teamed up with two Dutch universities to start testing a small fleet of self-sailing boats next year. The first tests will be conducted in Amsterdam, ferrying goods and commuters.

MIT has signed an agreement to engage in research collaborations with the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS) in the Netherlands. The collaboration’s flagship project, led by researchers from multiple departments at MIT, will be to develop a fleet of autonomous boats for the city’s canals.

Lancés par l'Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS) en collaboration avec le MIT, les bateaux autonomes « roboats » devraient commencer leur phase de test d'ici à 2017. Pour la ville aux multiples canaux, ces petits navires offrent une myriade de possibilités. Après les voitures autonomes d'Uber roulant sur le bitume de Pittsburgh, c'est cette fois sur l'eau que sera testée la viabilité d'un nouveau moyen de transport sans assistance humaine, le « roboat ».

Selvom selvkørende biler lige nu er det nye sort, så er det ikke den eneste form for transport, der kan se frem til, at robotter styrer dem. Forskere fra Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) og the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS Institute) har nemlig sammen startet et nyt forskningsprojekt, der gerne skulle ende op med, at Amsterdam får verdens første flåde af selvstyrende både.

The Hague: Amsterdam's iconic canals may soon see the world's first driverless boats, doing everything from moving people and goods to providing "pop-up" bridges and cleaning up thousands of dumped bicycles, the project's scientists said. The first prototypes of the so-called "Roboat" will launch next year, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS) said.

如果美國麻省理工學院（MIT）部分所贊助的計畫能夠開花結果，那麼無人駕駛船以及機械自動化平台組合，即將在荷蘭阿姆斯特丹數百年以來的運河上航行，載運旅客與貨物。. 根據路透社19日報導，麻省理工學院（Massachusetts Institute of Technology，MIT）研究團隊週一表示，他們希望能在2017年於荷蘭讓所設計的無人駕駛船原型機試航，他們將之命名為「機械自動船」（roboats）。. MIT的教授拉提（Carlo Ratti）表示：「試想一整個艦隊的自動航行船，不過也可以把它們想成動態且臨時的浮動基礎建設，就像因需要即可在數小時內組裝而成的橋樑與平台。」. MIT捐贈了2千萬歐元（約合新台幣7億151萬元）在這個計畫上。.

A group of researchers in Amsterdam has started work on the world’s first programme to produce autonomous boats in metropolitan areas. The Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS Institute) is collaborating with a team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Delft University of Technology (TUD) and Wageningen University and Research (WUR) in a five year, €25 million programme.

A partire dal 2017 una flotta di barche autonome scorrazzerà per i famosi e caratteristici canali di Amsterdam. Il progetto avrà una durata di cinque anni e se darà buone risposte potrebbe cambiare la mobilità di persone e merci, con un conseguente ritorno economico, della capitale dei Paesi Bassi.

The first prototypes of the so-called "Roboat" will launch next year, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS) said. MIT has donated 20 million euros ($22.3 million) to the research. "While the first prototypes of self-driving cars are taking to the road, Amsterdam ushers in a new chapter in the international push for autonomous vehicles," the AMS said in a statement earlier this week.

Self-driving boats and assemblies of robotic platforms will one day shuttle people and goods along Amsterdam's centuries-old canals - if a project part-funded by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology bears fruit. Researchers said on Monday they hope to launch the first prototypes of craft they have christened "roboats" in the Dutch city in 2017.

Het Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS Institute) gaat verschillende aspecten van autonome vaartuigen onderzoeken. Het vijfjarige programma Roboat, met een budget van 25 miljoen euro, is een samenwerking met het Amerikaanse MIT, de TU Delft en de Wageningen Universiteit.

Nearly a quarter of the city of Amsterdam is covered by water, with more than a hundred kilometers of canal winding their way through the municipality. No wonder then, that when the city looks to the future of transportation, it's not interested in the self-driving cars currently being tested in American cities, but in self-driving boats instead.