Autonomous boat technology company in Amsterdam Robot boat raised €550,000 in funding from LUMO Labs and SHIFT Invest.
A spin-off from MIT and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS), the company plans to transform urban waterway transportation with fully autonomous vessels featuring situational awareness, decision support, obstacle identification and avoidance, autonomous navigation, and automated mooring and docking.
The company has developed AI software to navigate busy Dutch inland waterways and can be integrated into new vehicles or adapted to commercial vessels responsible for passenger transport, cargo deliveries and waste collection.
According to Ynse Hendrik Deinema, CEO and co-founder of Roboat:
“We work with many customers in the Netherlands and Europe where our system supports the captain on the bridge or takes full control of navigation, depending on local regulations.”
The GVB (Gemeente Vervoerbedrijf) of Amsterdam, the city’s public transport company, uses the Roboat system for situational awareness on the GVB IJveer, providing an extra pair of eyes to support the skippers.
Andy Lürling, Founding Partner of LUMO Labs, shared:
“Cities around the world are struggling to transport people and goods on congested roads. Water transport is a good alternative to cars and trucks, but staff shortages and relatively high operating costs are currently a bottleneck.
Roboat technology offers a solution based on autonomous navigation.
This market is expected to grow significantly as we need to rethink our transportation systems to make them more versatile and sustainable.”
Main image: Roboat. Photo: uncredited.
