Global Big Data Conference

It took Odysseus ten years to find his way home from the Trojan Wars but a modern day odyssey about to launch involves an autonomous tug boat that will find its own way on a 1,000 mile journey expected to take just a couple of weeks. The project, named Machine Odyssey in a tribute to Homer's epic poem, will take a sea going tug built by Dutch shipbuilders Damen Shipyards from Hamburg, Germany around Denmark. In keeping with the theme, the tug is christened the Nellie Bly, in homage to the American journalist, industrialist, inventor, and charity worker who was widely known for her bold and record-breaking solo trip around the world in 72 days. At the helm won't be an ancient mariner, but rather the ultra modern SM300 autonomy system created by Boston maritime tech firm Sea Machines. "We recognize in today's day and age the effort on a vessel where a lot of it is still very manual today, it's still staring out those windows, it's still manual driving," said Michael Johnson, Sea Machines CEO. "The auto pilots we have are very single sensor with not a lot of feedback. A small crew will be on board to maintain the ship when the voyage is scheduled to begin Oct. 1 and the Nellie Bly's progress will be monitored and commanded back in Boston at Sea Machine's headquarters. But Johnson stresses, that's not the same as operating the ship by remote control. "The goal is 99% of the effort is taken by the autonomy system.