1620 on September 6th, 1620, the Mayflower began its voyage 1620 from Plymouth, England, bearing around 102 passengers and 30 crew members. After a grueling 66 days through the North Atlantic and harsh winter, the remaining Pilgrims and the Mayflower team came across Wampanoag. Wampanoag were well-known to Europeans as kidnappers, traders, and plague agents. The Wampanoag resided in the area today in southeastern Massachusetts for more than a century, and the two communities lived together for 50 years before the war broke out.
The European immigrants won this war during a series of wars with other tribes. The land that Indigenous Peoples, a new nation, took was born and was populated mainly by people whose ancestors traced their roots back from the Old World via immigration and slavery.
As the population increased, innovations such as the telephone, plane, and the Internet brought us to the modern world of interconnectedness. But the constant development of technology has been a massive cost to the planet’s well-being, mainly due to our world’s dependence upon fossil fuels. In 2017, the United Nations declared in 2017 that a Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development would occur from 2021 until 2030. The Ocean Decade calls for a global effort to stop the degradation of the oceans.
The year 2000, which was the beginning of the decade, 2020, commemorated the 400th anniversary of the Mayflower’s travels. Plymouth 400 is a non-profit organization that promotes culture and has been working for longer than ten years to mark this anniversary with various ways to celebrate every aspect of this story, according to the spokesperson Brian Logan. The events began in 2020; however, some of the most extensive and ingenious launch plans are still for the right time: a futuristic craft for sailors, the Mayflower Autonomous Ship, or MAS.
Tested and built in the last several years, The MAS will trace a new route through a retraced path. It will go through Plymouth, England, to Plymouth, Mass this year. Throughout the journey, it will collect information that could provide insights into marine mammals and ocean health and gather information on the ocean’s sustainable energy sources–the waves that could power our planet.
Aye, A.I., Captain!
As discussions began about what a future Mayflower could be, Brett Phaneuf co-founded the Marine Research Non-Profit ProMare and was a proponent of creating and building a new ship, not a replica. According to him, the military, private firms, and research organizations were all looking at uncrewed systems, “Everybody was looking at what the next iteration of technology [would be ]…and it’s autonomy–true autonomy.”
Phaneuf recalled watching the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue defeated the world champion Gary Kasparov in the 1990s. Given the possibility of building the next Mayflower, the engineer considered, “We must be able to bring some of this technology to bear…how hard can this be?” It was not easy; it turned out. Making an Artificially Intelligent Captain that could navigate through the ocean proved to be more difficult than mastering the notoriously complex strategies required by Chess. As Phaneuf said, the ship has to be able to make decisions on its own “so even when you don’t have communication with it…it can still function safely and achieve a goal.”
To navigate the coastal waters and open oceans, MAS uses artificial intelligence (A.I.) created in collaboration with IBM and ProMare. The A.I. Captain utilizes its camera-based system to identify potential hazards (learned by looking at pictures from seagulls to ships). Two weather stations aboard and the IBM’s The Weather Company provide Captain with A.I. Captain with live meteorological information in real-time. Sensors that monitor how waves roll in the ocean give the A.I. Captain of the sea conditions. With all of these factors, the A.I. Captain has to make well-informed decisions to avoid collisions and remain on the right side of the road and in good health.
To aid in making these decisions, MAS uses IBM’s Operational Decision Manager, a tool employed by financial institutions to determine, for instance, the eligibility of specific individuals for loans. In this instance, the rules don’t concern financial matters but focus on preventing adverse effects. In this case, the International Regulations for Preventing Collisions at Sea ( COLREGs) released through the International Maritime Organization are guidelines or “rules of the road” for oceans, as per Lenny Bromberg, program director of automation intelligence, the management of decisions at IBM. Since the COLREG framework is tied to Operations Decision Manager, he said that the A.I. Captain cancan determine which way to move forward when anything from dolphins to destroyers is in its range of vision.
A diesel generator, paired with solar panels and batteries, is the power source for these systems, sensors, and ships themselves, explained Phaneuf. If the batteries are depleted, the diesel-powered engine begins charging the batteries and then shuts down, allowing the ship to run on solar and battery power. “If you want to cross an ocean, we could probably build a [totally] solar-powered ship,” the scientist declared. “But then you’d need to take out about 99 percent of all the science.”
“My Humans May Want This!”
Without a crew or captain, there’s no reason to have sleeping quarters, a galley, or any other amenities humans might require. Eliminating these compartments allowed ProMare and its collaborators to create a light trimaran whose internals can be devoted to research. The payload is energy efficient and fits within a space of around two cubic meters. It is less than the size of a refrigerator, according to James Sutton, an engineer in software at IBM who was instrumental in developing the platforms that run on the MAS science program. The vessel can accommodate 700 kilograms (1,500 pounds) of equipment for scientific research.
According to Sutton, the ship has an intake pipe that draws water from the ocean and then into one of the sensors to study seawater. Protect this vital entry point to prevent the intake from overflowing with debris like seaweed, filters, and grills. Flowmeters make sure that the tubing inside the vessel is kept clear. He added this concept: “We don’t have to worry about sticking lots of sensors on the outside of the ship.”
A can be described as a slug of water shaped like a fish tank, equipped with sensors to test temperature, pH, salinity, and oxygen levels. A fluorometer is a device that detects optically if something in seawater is fluorescent that can be used as a way to quantify the amount of chlorophyll-rich algae Sutton. He added that satellite links transfer information from the fish tank into the cloud in real time whenever possible.
There is also an upgraded variation that is a version of HyperTaste IBM’s A.I.-assisted “tongue” designed to determine chemicals in liquids rapidly. The system, which is based on the same tool that was initially used to identify fake brandy, according to Phaneuf four sensors that can measure the presence of different substances and ions found in seawater. The sniffing version of the brandy requires about one minute to test, and the understanding that uses the MAS version takes around 15.
HyperTaste begins every cycle by taking a sample from an artificial seawater bucket on board. According to Sutton, this acts as a baseline followed by a shower of deionized water and, finally, tasting of the ocean. When the cycle is complete, like a wine lover, it spits water back into the sea and cleans the palate for the next drink. Sutton says that HyperTaste will analyze the amount of magnesium, calcium, and other indicators of ocean biogeochemistry around each 15-minute interval.
A Holographic microscope can take photos of samples of water taken from various directions, to produce 3-D pictures of microplastics and microbes found in the water, said Sutton. The problem is that the files are too large to be transmitted via satellite link; they’ll be saved to the 12 terabytes of solid-state hard drive storage available on the board, said Sutton.
To go along with the Holographic microscope, a robot sampler will be used to collect and then refrigerate around 20 liters-sized flasks of seawater to be donated to a local college when it arrives from Plymouth, Massachusetts, said Phaneuf. To decide where water samples originate, Phaneuf said the goal is to train the A.I. system to identify abnormalities and tell itself, “My humans may want this!”
Chemical oceanographers take these same kinds of measurements–temperature, salinity, oxygen, pH, fluorescence, and others–not only at the surface but also in vertical depth profiles, said Hilairy Hartnett, an oceanographer at Arizona State University. These metrics aid scientists in monitoring the density of water, nutrient content, and the ocean’s health. “What we lack in oceanography is lots and lots of coverage,” she added. “The oceans are freaking huge!”
Hartnett continued that the MAS can gather such precise data on the ocean’s surface is intriguing, but “until we see the data, it’s going to be hard to know what we can do with it.”
The Next Wave of Sustainable Energy?
The MAS‘s Inertial Measurement device measures acceleration on the three axes at 300 every second. According to Sutton, This presents an astonishingly high-resolution photo of how waves move up and down in the ocean’s open. Six cameras positioned on the center mast of the vessel are on guard as waves arrive at the MAS, allowing researchers to use the pixel’s velocity to determine the size and speed of every wave. According to Sutton, researchers can decide on each lock’s energy by linking inertial measurements to the individual waves. This information may eventually be used to locate wave energy harvesting devices on the water’s surface.
The harvesting of energy from waves, according to Michael Webber, an associate professor in mechanical engineering at the University of Texas at Austin, “is global, sustainable, non emission-free emission free.” Webber explained that one must require either a rotational motion or an electrical potential to generate usable electrical energy, which is the difference between charges. Webber said that the most fundamental method to create electricity is burning fossil fuels to convert steam into water, which rotates a turbine similar to an inverse fan. This turbine spins an axis, which then rotates magnets inside the generator. “That’s the basis for just about all of our electricity,” said the man.
In the ocean, the rising and falling of waves could be converted into rotational motion, such as through a buoy which can move up and down, or a gate in the seafloor, which rocks around, Webber explained. “Earth does the heavy lifting for you,” Webber explained. But as strong as waves are, “it takes a lot of equipment to convert that into useful energy, and you have to worry about marine ecosystem impacts.”
“I would be interested to know what the wave structures are like around the oceans,” Webber said. However, Webber recording wave energy with a boat is difficult because oceans are enormous and continuously changing. The satellite imagery, Webber added, is beneficial. The data taken from MAS, according to Jyotika Vimani, the director of the executive office at Schmidt Ocean Institute, can aid in verifying and calibrating satellite data. “It’ll be interesting to see how this autonomous ship’s information meshes with what we can do from satellite data,” Hartnett added. Hartnett.
Bigger Ships, More Science
Deciding which ocean areas MASwould explore on its inaugural expedition “was kind of organic,” Phaneuf added. At one point, “I went, ‘Stop! We’ve got enough things at the moment.'”
According to Sutton, the scientists had to think about what they could accomplish without the oversight of a crew. One example is an individual hydrophone tethered to a pipe in the middle of the MAS that extends from below the vessel to detect the sound of marine mammals, such as dolphins and whales. However, in an acoustic study in the marine environment, “the gold standard would actually be to have it tethered on a line behind the ship, quite some distance,” he explained. “But we didn’t want to risk the line getting caught.”
If Scripps Institution of Oceanography geophysicist Vashan Wright sets out on a trip to the ocean, he aims to photograph the subsurface as he looks for submarine slides, faults, or paleoseismic sediments. “I can’t imagine [an autonomous vehicle] dragging a 5-kilometer streamer behind it, and an air gun array, and having no problems,” Wright stated. Conducting this kind of research in an autonomous way “would take a lot of creative thinking.”
The one thing that needs to be added to one of the areas in the MAS scientific suite of tools is the sonar. This is especially given that one of the objectives for the Ocean Decade is a comprehensive digital atlas of the ocean. “Right now, we have first-order bathymetry for the world oceans from orbital gravity [data], but that’s pretty coarse compared to what you get from a hull-mounted sonar,” said Robert Stern, an associate professor of geosciences at the University of Texas at Dallas. Sonar assists scientists in mapping the ocean’s bathymetry with incredible detail. However, there needs to be more coverage. “[Autonomous ships] would be perfect for mapping large swaths of the oceans,” Stern said. Stern.
But, mapping bathymetry that is many fathoms deep, with a sufficient resolution, will require equipment that wouldn’t fit into the MAS as it’s currently set up, according to Phaneuf. In addition, he added that the power needed for such equipment would be high. The ship is too small.
According to Phaneuf, autonomous Mayflower descendants are heading their way about the two ships to follow being built. The first ship will bear the name of Oceanus Hopkins, who was taken to the Pilgrims on the Mayflower during their voyage. A second baby born to the initial Mayflower, Peregrine White, will give his name to the second offspring of MAS. The construction of Oceanus is believed to be close to doubling its size MAS and is scheduled to begin in 2022 to 2023. According to Phaneuf, the new vessels will have greater endurance “and much more payload for science.”
Accessible Oceans
Autonomous research ships can provide access to the ocean for those who can’t access the oceanography world. As of now, said Hartnett, “it’s not a super accessible field.”
“[Autonomous ships] would expand access to people who don’t know how to swim or are afraid if something goes wrong,” Wright said. Wright. “Sometimes, those are people from historically excluded groups,” Wright said.
Stern knows this more than many. “I’ve got a degenerative nervous disease called Charcot-Marie-Tooth syndrome, and it affects my motor nerves,” Stern said. “I get around on a scooer, a I don’t do any fieldwork anymore.” To keep up with the marine sciences, he depends on ships equipped with Internet devices, which are becoming more frequent since the period of Covid-19. “I can’t handle any rocks on the ship, obviously, but I can participamuch betterway than just waiting until [my team gets] back.”
Other life events may make it difficult for people to dedicate several weeks at a stretch for an expedition, explained Allison Fundis, Chief Operating Officer of the Ocean Exploration Trust. This group consists of pregnant mothers and their parents. “For that reason, it’s more important for us to provide that portal to people, so they can experience [the sea] without having be on the ship themselves physicallyves.”
Some scientists need more funds or time to travel out to sea, explained Virmani. With the MAS they can obtain the information they require to continue their research.
According to Hartnett, MAS is also a great teaching opportunity, particularly for landlocked universities. “I love being able to find ways for students in my oceanography classes to deal with real-time oceanographic data,” she added. “The ability to help [students] see the of data that we collectpotent very powerful.”
An Uncertain Future
Uncrewed research vessels such as the MAS could open up new opportunities for scientists, but they could also hinder the careers of those indirectly involved in science. “Many people make their livelihood at sea,” Wright said. Wright. They include cooks, skilled seamen, and technical personnel whose jobs require them to go to sea. “When we think about automation, we have to think about…what happens to them.” Fundis acknowledged the issue but stated that replacing crewed operations with autonomous ships “ch not the case.” Instead, she spoke of autonomous vehicles performing jobs unsuitable for vessels with crews, such as operating during dangerous weather conditions and making lengthy journeys through remote areas.
Virmani said that vessels without crews could significantly increase the capacity to watch hazardous scenarios, such as in the case of 2011’s Fukushima nuclear power station explosion in Japan, which resulted in radioactivity that contaminated parts of the Pacific. “You don’t have people on board, so it’s pretty safe to send something like this to assess what’s going on,” Virmani declared of the MAS.
A Sputnik Moment
In October 1957, when the Soviets launched Sputnik into orbit, walking on the Moon only 12 years later might appear like an impossible goal. The first participants of the Space Race may have yet to imagine astronauts living in space or tourists who would be able to visit the lunar orbit. Similar to that, said Stern, MASmay be the next Sputnik event for oceanography.
Following its 2020 launch, which was delayed due to the covid-19 pandemic, the MAS attempted its first transatlantic journey on June 15th, 2021. But a mechanical issue caused Phaneuf and his crew to return the ship to England within three days. It’s back in the water and ready to attempt again next spring.
“All Sputnik did was, it went around the Earth, and it beeped,” said Stern. “It didn’t collect any dall but still revolutionized humans’ relation to space.” An autonomous spacecraft, He said, it’s similar to Sputnik. “It does have to do much, as long as it can do what it’s designed to do, which in this case is roaming the oceans.”