MIT announced on Monday that it plans to collaborate with the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions in the Netherlands on a fleet of autonomous boats for the city’s canals.
The cleverly named “ROBOATS” would transport goods and people and collect data as researchers study how to best use urban waterways.
“This project imagines a fleet of autonomous boats for the transportation of goods and people that can also cooperate to produce temporary floating infrastructure, such as on-demand bridges or stages that can be assembled or disassembled in a matter of hours,” Carlo Ratti, MIT professor of urban technologies, told MIT News.
