Today we're all acquainted with the concept of self-driving vehicles. Self-driving cars are the next future we are waiting to use extensively, and the tools needed to make them are being continuously innovated by some of Silicon Valley's greatest tech firms. The development and testing of self-driving vehicles have seen significant improvement lately. In any case, engineers are working towards different sorts of self-ruling vehicles as well – including some that run on water. We are talking about self-driving boats. Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, are working on one such project.

Self-driving cars may not hit the road in earnest for many years - but autonomous boats could be just around the pier. Spurred in part by the car industry's race to build driverless vehicles, marine innovators are building automated ferry boats for Amsterdam canals, cargo ships that can steer themselves through Norwegian fjords and remote-controlled ships to carry containers across the Atlantic and Pacific. The first such autonomous ships could be in operation within three years. One experimental workboat spent this summer dodging tall ships and tankers in Boston Harbor, outfitted with sensors and self-navigating software and emblazoned with the words "UNMANNED VESSEL" across its aluminum hull. "We're in full autonomy now," said Jeff Gawrys, a marine technician for Boston startup Sea Machines Robotics, sitting at the helm as the boat floated through a harbor channel.

BOSTON – Self-driving cars may not hit the road in earnest for many years -- but autonomous boats could be just around the pier. Spurred in part by the car industry's race to build driverless vehicles, marine innovators are building automated ferry boats for Amsterdam canals, cargo ships that can steer themselves through Norwegian fjords and remote-controlled ships to carry containers across the Atlantic and Pacific. The first such autonomous ships could be in operation within three years. One experimental workboat spent this summer dodging tall ships and tankers in Boston Harbor, outfitted with sensors and self-navigating software and emblazoned with the words "UNMANNED VESSEL" across its aluminum hull. "We're in full autonomy now," said Jeff Gawrys, a marine technician for Boston start-up Sea Machines Robotics, sitting at the helm as the boat floated through a harbor channel.

Self-driving cars may not hit the road in earnest for many years - but autonomous boats could be just around the pier. Spurred in part by the car industry's race to build driverless vehicles, marine innovators are building automated ferry boats for Amsterdam canals, cargo ships that can steer themselves through Norwegian fjords and remote-controlled ships to carry containers across the Atlantic and Pacific. The first such autonomous ships could be in operation within three years. One experimental workboat spent this summer dodging tall ships and tankers in Boston Harbor, outfitted with sensors and self-navigating software and emblazoned with the words "UNMANNED VESSEL" across its aluminum hull. "We're in full autonomy now," said Jeff Gawrys, a marine technician for Boston startup Sea Machines Robotics, sitting at the helm as the boat floated through a harbor channel.

Self-driving cars may not hit the road in earnest for many years – but autonomous boats could be just around the pier. Big maritime firms have committed to designing ships that won't need any captains or crews _ at least not on board.

In this Aug. 15, 2017 photo, computer scientist Mohamed Saad Ibn Seddik, of Sea Machines Robotics, uses a laptop to guide a boat outfitted with sensors and self-navigating software and capable of autonomous navigation in Boston Harbor. The boat still needs human oversight, but some of the world's biggest maritime firms have committed to designing ships that won't need any captains or crews - at least not on board.

Amsterdam is well known for its vast waterway, which has a total of 165 canals, with a combined length of over 62 miles (100km). While boats already regularly operate on the waters, the city is now looking to the future of transportation – self-driving boats. The Amsterdam Institute for Metropolitan Solutions (AMS) has today announced a new five-year research plan, under the name'Roboat', to explore the possibility of autonomous floating vehicles. Amsterdam is well known for its waterway, which has a total of 165 canals, with a combined length of over 62 miles (100 kilometres). While boats do regularly operate on the waters, the city is now looking to the future of transportation – self-driving boats (artist's impression) AMS has collaborated with researchers from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Delft University of Technology and Wageningen University ad Research to create the Roboats.

When it comes to autonomous vehicles why stop on land when you can expand to the seas? The two groups announced on Monday that they have joined forces to create the cleverly named Roboat to explore the possibilities of creating self-driving boats. The boats would be used for a variety of functions, including transporting people and goods, but would also be capable of much more. "Imagine a fleet of autonomous boats for the transportation of goods and people," says Carlo Ratti, professor at MIT and principal investigator in the Roboat-program in a statement announcing the partnership, "but also think of dynamic and temporary floating infrastructure like on-demand bridges and stages, that can be assembled or disassembled in a matter of hours." As part of the research project MIT will be contributing 20 million out of a five-year budget of 25 million (about 27.9 million), and while the project will be based in Amsterdam the group hopes to apply its findings to other urbans areas around the world.