Building an autonomous boat: a multidisciplinary design engineering approach

This paper describes the work completed for the design and development of a prototype autonomous boat (or autonomous surface vessel). The goal of the boat was to compete in a number of races, which were part of the International Aegean Ro-Boat Races, sailing completely autonomously, that is using onboard data sensors and processing, so as to navigate safely, without any input from shore. It outlines the path to development from initial concept and requirements, to detailed design of the physical and software systems, complete to the first sea trials. We describe how the boat performs the entire Sense-Think-Act paradigm on board, at sea, while using occupancy grids to safely navigate and avoid collisions. The boat perceives its surroundings through a collection of low-cost sensors (such as cameras, LIDAR, etc) that are used to map the environment. Following this, path and trajectory planning algorithms, navigate the boat safely and free of collisions towards its destination. Overall this work demonstrates the potential of using open source software and off the shelf components to build a cost effective autonomous vessel with advanced capabilities. Although the design purpose and requirements of this boat were very specific, the basic design of the boat can be adapted to different needs, environments and applications. The system has been extensively tested in various environments, including open water testing, and the results demonstrate its capacity to navigate safely and efficiently.