The Mayflower Autonomous Research Ship -- also known as MARS -- is a crewless ship that is set to sail from Plymouth, England to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 2020 whilst conducting a whole array of research projects along the way. 2020 marks the 400th anniversary of the journey of the original Mayflower ship, which brought Pilgrims to America.
The vessel will conduct research on renewable energy and propulsion, satellite communication and cooperative behavior between automated and autonomous vehicles.
The Mayflower Autonomous Research Ship isn't quite ready to hit the waters however, as it will need to go through extensive on-the-water testing. Commercial partners are being sought out to help fund this venture, which could go a long way towards giving direction to research in a wide variety of fields, and opening up the research world in a revolutionary way.
What's Driving This Trend
- Autonomous Research Ships
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Develop autonomous research ships for conducting a wide array of research projects at sea.
- Renewable Energy and Propulsion
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Explore new renewable energy and propulsion technologies for autonomous research ships.
- Cooperative Behavior Between Automated and Autonomous Vehicles
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Develop cooperative behavior algorithms for better interaction between automated and autonomous vehicles at sea.
Who This Affects Most
- Maritime Research
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Integrate AI and autonomous technologies into maritime research for enhanced data collection and analysis.
- Renewable Energy
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Drive advances in renewable energy technologies through research conducted on autonomous research ships.
- Satellite Communication
- Disruptive innovation opportunity: Improve satellite communication systems for seamless connectivity with autonomous research ships.
