(BREMERTON, Wash.) — SAFE Boats International has announced a production partnership with Mythos AI, a West Palm Beach, Fla.-based autonomous maritime technology provider, and recently delivered a purpose-built Porter 78S workboat to the company.
Archie One, an aluminum-hull, outboard-driven survey boat, was built under an exclusive license agreement with Stormer Work Boats of the Netherlands. It is specifically designed for the integration of Mythos AI’s self-driving and autonomous hydrographic survey control system.
Archie One is fully equipped and in service, collecting data and demonstrating its capabilities to hydrographic survey stakeholders in the Southeast. The second vessel is approaching completion and future builds are scheduled for 2023 and beyond.
“SAFE Boats was attracted to Mythos AI’s focused and realistic application of self-driving, autonomous car technology to solve workflow inefficiencies for workboat operators,” said SAFE Boats CEO Richard Schwarz. “Their team has a refreshing approach to addressing this underserved space and has developed exciting capabilities in a short time span. It’s exciting to be a critical partner and witness their technology rollout.”
Mythos AI’s approach applies self-driving, car-derived technology to the far more manageable maritime environment. Archie, Mythos AI’s initial product offering, is a vertically integrated autonomous hydrographic survey vessel. Hydrographic surveys require a specialized skill set and the ability to rapidly interpret various environmental details. They are conducted at low speeds where maintaining course and coverage requirements manually is a challenge while executing dynamic routes to avoid obstacles and collisions in congested waterways.
The Mythos system walks operators through the acquisition process of high fidelity, multibeam sonar data from start to finish, layering in autonomous quality control and self-driving to reduce human-prone error and, in turn, increase the efficiency of surveys tenfold.
“Mythos AI sought SAFE Boats as its production partner for their proven quality, discipline and precision in replicating boats for large programs,” said Mythos AI CEO Geoff Douglass. “Commercial, self-driving robotics and autonomous systems require a level of engineering and manufacturing discipline that is challenging to find in boatbuilding. The team at SAFE had this discipline and was from start to finish a great program partner. SAFE Boats and the Stormer Porter 78S are the ideal builder and vessel platform for our initial market offering. We look forward to continuing the relationship.”
The Porter 78S is an 26-by-10-foot aluminum workboat powered by dual outboard engines, with a large pilothouse and working deck area with a moonpool for multibeam sonar deployment. The Porter range of workboats is offered by SAFE Boats in inboard and outboard configurations from 21 to 39 feet.
– SAFE Boats International
