Beautiful Virgin Islands

Wednesday, Oct 08, 2025

Soon, Tourists Can Enjoy Self-driving "Roboats" In Amsterdam

Soon, Tourists Can Enjoy Self-driving "Roboats" In Amsterdam

It will be the electric-powered "Roboat", a catchier name than "autonomous floating vehicle" for a project shortly due to start test journeys aimed at improving the crowded city's transport options.
Visitors to Amsterdam may soon spot a self-driving watercraft the size of a small car cruising silently through its ancient canals, ferrying passengers or transporting goods or trash.

It will be the electric-powered "Roboat", a catchier name than "autonomous floating vehicle" for a project shortly due to start test journeys aimed at improving the crowded city's transport options.

"We have a lot of road traffic and congestion, e-commerce, logistics cluttering the small streets in the city," said Stephan van Dijk, Innovation Director at Amsterdam's Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, which is designing and engineering Roboat with The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

"At the same time we have a lot of open water available in the canals ... So we developed a self-driving, autonomous ship to help with logistics in the city and also bringing people around."

After four years of trials with smaller versions and refinements of the concept, the makers showed off the first two full-size, functional Roboats on Wednesday

One of the first test applications of the craft will be for an unglamorous but important task: trash collection.

The job is normally done by trucks, but they are a safety hazard on the city's narrow streets and cause traffic jams. Instead, Roboats stationed at the waterside will act as floating trash containers, scooting back to base when they're full.

The city, which is backing the project, is considering locations for a trash collection pilot project starting early next year, Van Dijk said.

Roboats will need to be connected digitally to the city's water traffic management to avoid collisions, but Van Dijk said one big advantage is that they don't require human drivers and "see" as well at night as during the day.

"So we can use also night-time to pick up waste and bring in construction materials into the city, while for instance leisure boating is more (active) during the day," he said, leading to better distribution of water traffic.

Technical details of Roboat are at the project's website https://roboat.org, including its battery performance and wireless charging system.

Below the waterline, it works somewhat like an upside down air drone: two propellers, fore and aft, and two thrusters on either side of the bow, allow it to manoeuvre nimbly, including smooth berthing that would put most human skippers to shame.

Laser imaging at the front, GPS systems on front and back, and multiple cameras on the sides help with positioning. Programming the Roboat is done from computers on shore.

It is not yet permissioned to enter the city's normal water traffic with passengers. But longer term, the medium size and slightly boxy chassis of the 1,200 kg (2,645 lb) craft can be used for passenger, trash and transport models, and it was developed so that Roboats can link together.

Linking Robats will open the door to more one-off uses, Van Dijk said, such as creating a floating concert platform, a temporary bridge, forming a barge, or, in sea-faring versions, to form a circle of Roboats to help contain an oil spill.
Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Sentenced to Fifty Months in Prison Following Prostitution Conviction
Taylor Swift’s ‘Showgirl’ Launch Extends Billion-Dollar Empire
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
×