MIT investing €20m in robot boats for Amsterdam canal rides
MIT is investing €20m in the development of a driverless robot boat to tour Amsterdam's canals. The project, called "RoBoat", starts next year and is the result of a partnership between MIT and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, in conjunction with Delft and Wageningen Universities. A total budget of €25m has been earmarked for the project, which will also be exploring environmental sensing, for example the use of RoBoats to tackle canal waste, or underwater robots that can detect diseases.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) will be investing 20 million Euros into developing robot boat that will take riders across Amsterdam's canals - without a driver.

The 'RoBoat' project begins next year, and sees a research partnership between Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions, working with teams from Delft and Wageningen universities.

Budgeted at a total of €25m, the project can lay the foundation for "dynamic and temporary floating infrastructure like on-demand bridges and stages", MIT professor Carlo Ratti said.

And next? Underwater robots, of course!

Professor Arjan van Timmeren, the AMS Institute's scientific director said: 'We'll also be exploring environmental sensing. We could for instance do further research on underwater robots that can detect diseases at an early stage or use Roboats to rid the canals from floating waste and find a more efficient way to handle the 12,000 bicycles that end up in the city's canals each year.'