Autonomous Vehicles
A ship that can sail itself isn't new. Even the smallest vessel can be equipped with an automatic pilot, and it isn't uncommon to come across stories of freighters steaming into harbor without a soul aboard after being prematurely abandoned by their crews. In fact, even a sailing craft without a single bit of electronics aboard can keep a steady course if the sails are set properly and the tiller secured. However, that is a very different thing from an autonomous ship making a passage. An automatic pilot simply allows a craft to maintain a heading and maybe it can be programmed to respond to things like GPS waypoints and currents, but an autonomous ship must be able to handle many kinds of sensor readings and to not only make decisions about how to respond to them, but to do so in accordance with the rules of the road and maritime law.
HD Hyundai announced that the Prism Courage, a 122,000-ton ultra-large natural gas tanker, operated by its subsidiary Avikus, has become the first large ship to make an ocean passage of over 10,000 km under autonomous control. The ship left Freeport, Texas on May 1st, then passed through the Panama Canal and crossed the Pacific Ocean to arrive at the Boryeong LNG Terminal in South Chungcheong Province, Korea, after a voyage of 33 days. During the latter half of the journey, the ship was under the control of the autonomous navigation system HiNAS 2.0, which not only steered it, but sought out the optimal routes and best speeds based on Hyundai Global Service’s Integrated Smartship Solution AI. This provided navigation as well as compensation for weather and wave heights and legally avoiding passing ships by steering in real-time. Moreover, HiNAS 2.0 system provided an increase in fuel efficiency of 7% and a reduction of greenhouse gas emissions of 5%. In addition, it was able to locate and avoid other ships over 100 times. Ships getting added to the Autonomous Vehicle domain opens immense possibilities for businesses during peak season.
Nearer home, from 10th June, AirAsia India started using taxibot, a vehicle that helps a plane to move between parking stand and runway without running engines, at the Bengaluru international airport. The airline had on November last year started using taxibot to tow two modified A320 planes at the Delhi international airport. Taxibot is a semi-robotic towbarless aircraft movement equipment that tows an aircraft from the terminal gate to the take-off point (taxi-out phase) and returns it to the gate after landing (taxi-in phase). The aircraft engines remain shut when the taxibot is in operation. AirAsia India has tied up with KSU Aviation, the exclusive operator of the taxibot in India. In addition to driving the adoption of sustainable aviation, taxibot leverages technology to drive differentiation and efficiency in operations, leading the way forward for a cleaner and greener ecosystem. Expect to see more taxibot in Indian airports in the next few months.
In what potentially lays the ground for postal delivery by drones, drone startup TechEagle has successfully delivered a parcel in Gujarat under a pilot project in collaboration with India Post. The parcel was sent from Habay village in Bhuj taluka to Ner village in Bhachau taluka in Kutch district - the drone covered 46 kms in 25 minutes. It was the longest drone delivery in India in a single flight and that too in a harsh weather environment with a wind speed of more than 31 km/hr. Last month, TechEagle launched a hybrid-electric vertical take-off and landing drone called “VertiplaneX3” with a payload capacity of 3 kg, a range of 100 km and a top speed of 120 kmph. The drone has the capability to take off and land vertically like a helicopter from a small area of 5mx5m!
Swiggy last month commenced deployment of drones on a trial basis to make deliveries from its grocery service Instamart. For these trials, which are being conducted in two phases, Swiggy has roped in 4 “drone-as-a-service” operators, of which TechEagle is one. Several other drone operators have partnered with state governments and other authorities to conduct trials of vaccines and healthcare supplies deliveries through drones. Logistics services company Delhivery in December announced the acquisition of California-based Transition Robotics, which develops drone platforms. Globally, internet giant Alphabet’s drone delivery unit Wing recently delivered its first consignment in a major US metropolitan area by supplying boxes of medicines from Walgreens in Dallas.
Delivery by drones, vehicles, ships are getting more and more autonomous – soon aircrafts will be too! While they work on that, a bit of update from the supersonic flight world. Boom Technology is an American company designing a Mach 1.7 65-88-passenger supersonic airliner. Named the Boom Overture, the airliner is planned to have a range of 7,870 km travelling at 1,800 km/h and will be introduced in 2029. With 500 viable routes, Boom suggests there could be a market for 1,000 supersonic airliners. In September 2020, the company announced that it had been contracted to develop the Overture for possible use as Air Force One! In January 2021, Boom announced plans to begin Overture test flights in 2026. In June 2021, United Airlines announced that it had signed a deal to purchase 15 Boom Overture aircraft, with an option to buy 35 more. They are scheduled to begin operating in 2029. For many in our generation who grew up hearing about Concorde, one day in maybe a bit over a decade we can indeed actually take a supersonic flight to somewhere. Question is whether it will be a fully autonomous supersonic flight?!