The Mayflower 2.0 – highlighting the potential of autonomous ships
Andy will talk about the Mayflower Autonomous Ship Project, in which IBM led the technology development. This Mayflower 2.0 has no captain nor crew, and is a scientific research vessel for gathering oceanic data to help advance our understanding of the impact of climate change and pollution, studying things such as ocean chemistry and the health of marine mammals.
The fully autonomous Mayflower travelled from Plymouth UK to Plymouth Massachusetts in the Summer of 2022, recreating the journey of the Pilgrim Fathers over 400 years ago, and achieved the first Atlantic crossing by a self-directing fully-autonomous ship. Andy will describe how an AI Captain controlled the ship and will discuss the scientific experiments on board, and the valuable data produced.
Andy Stanford-Clark’s Bio
Andy Stanford-Clark is an innovation leader in IBM Research, and led IBM’s technical team for the Mayflower Autonomous Ship project. He is an IBM Distinguished Engineer, a Master Inventor with more than 40 patents, and leads IBM’s Quantum Ambassador team in the UK. He was also previously CTO for IBM UK & Ireland.
He is widely recognized for his pioneering work in the area of home automation and the Internet of Things and is a prominent advocate for using technology to make everyday life more efficient and sustainable.
Andy is based at IBM’s Hursley Park laboratories near Winchester. He is an Honorary Professor at the University of East Anglia, a Visiting Professor at the University of Newcastle, an Adjunct Professor at the University of Southampton, and a Fellow of the British Computer Society.
