In just a few short weeks, The Mayflower 400 will depart from Plymouth before making a 3,000 mile journey across the Atlantic. This ship will have no crew, no Captain and no people on board.
The Mayflower 400 is the worlds most technically advanced ship ever invented. The solar powered trimaran, which looks like a ship from popular TV series Star Trek, is guided by artificial intelligence. This AI ‘Captain’ will help the ship identify obstacles and navigate around them.
If successful, this pioneering mission could be the beginning of a future full of human less travel. The Mayflower 400 is not only a ship, but a moving laboratory. Whilst on her maiden voyage, robotic instruments on board will listen to sounds in the ocean, the calls of various animals and even monitor the health of the ocean. The Mayflower 400 can explore depths of the ocean we simply can not.
With climate control continually changing, it is now more important than ever to know exactly how our actions are affecting the health of our seas.
Where no ship has gone before: The Mayflower 400
Named after the vessel that took the Pilgrims to the new world, thats where comparisons end. The original Mayflower took pilgrims from Plymouth to America on 16th September 1620.
The fifteen metre ship is half the length of the original Mayflower. Its sleek design allows it to ‘skim’ across the water.
“The Captain” is a computer fondly nicknamed The ‘Brain’. Satellites help ‘the brain’ act like a real Captain. It scans the sea, uses maps with existing ships locations and a camera to avoid accidents. It has over two million images of ships, whales, paddleboarders and any potential threats loaded into its system. If these fail, the ship will stop dead in the water and reassess.
The vessel is empty inside, with no need for amenities on board as there are no humans. There are also no kitchen, no bunks and no toilets. Powered by solar panels, which are helped by a small diesel-electric hybrid engine. If the test voyage goes well, it could spend prolonged periods at sea completely unmanned.
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