This paper addresses the challenge of identifying the paths for vessels with operating routes of repetitive paths, partially repetitive paths, and new paths. We propose a spatial clustering approach for labeling the vessel paths by using only position information. We develop a path clustering framework employing two methods: a distance-based path modeling and a likelihood estimation method. The former enhances the accuracy of path clustering through the integration of unsupervised machine learning techniques, while the latter focuses on likelihood-based path modeling and introduces segmentation for a more detailed analysis. The result findings highlight the superior performance and efficiency of the developed approach, as both methods for clustering vessel paths into five classes achieve a perfect F1-score. The approach aims to offer valuable insights for route planning, ultimately contributing to improving safety and efficiency in maritime transportation.

On Thursday, history repeated itself on the shores of Plymouth. In 1620, English pilgrims arrived in North America on the Mayflower. Now, 402 years later, another ship with that name found its way to the Massachusetts coastline. The first Mayflower had more than 100 people on board, the modern version had zero. The Mayflower Autonomous Ship, designed by nautical research company Promare and IBM, completed its voyage from England almost entirely without human assistance.

A crewless robotic boat retracing the 1620 sea voyage of the Mayflower has landed near Plymouth Rock. The sleek Mayflower Autonomous Ship met with an escort boat as it approached the Massachusetts shoreline Thursday, more than 400 years after its namesake's historic journey from England. It was towed into Plymouth Harbor -- per U.S. Coast Guard rules for crewless vessels -- and docked near a replica of the original Mayflower that brought the Pilgrims to America. Piloted by artificial intelligence technology, the 50-foot (15-meter) trimaran didn't have a captain, navigator or any humans on board. The solar-powered ship's first attempt to cross the Atlantic in 2021 was beset with technical problems, forcing it back to its home port of Plymouth, England -- the same place the Pilgrim settlers sailed from in 1620.

Not all of us have the talent to whip up a piece of art at a moment's notice. But algorithms using machine learning are learning how to create "AI art" based on text prompts--and you can use them, too. Algorithms like DALL-E (and eventually, DALL-E 2), DALL-E mini, Craiyon, Midjourney, and more are learning how to take publicly available art and learn what makes them art. Or, at least, digest the various elements and style of a photo or artistic work and recombine them into something new. Sure, you can argue whether or not they're, in fact, "art," but the creations are unique, original, and compelling. Simply put, AI art uses a text prompt: something specific like McDonalds at the bottom of the sea, for example, or a bit more generic like the castle of time -- the prompt that generated the art at the top of this story.

Latitude, the startup behind text game AI Dungeon, is expanding into a new artificial intelligence-powered game platform called Voyage. The company announced the closed beta on Friday, opening a waitlist for current AI Dungeon users. It's the next step for a company that began with a university hackathon project, but that ultimately hopes to help other people create their own games using trained AI models. AI Dungeon, which launched as AI Dungeon 2 in 2019, is powered by OpenAI's GPT-2 and GPT-3 text generation algorithms. To start, you generate some introductory text or write your own adventure setup.

There are a number of autonomous boats under development, but we've seen few commercial self-driving ships plying waterways. Now, a company called Sea Machines has announced that it will send an autonomous, remotely commanded tugboat on a 1,000 nautical mile (1,150 mile) "Machine Odyssey" voyage around Denmark. The tug ("Nellie Bly") will have "full onboard vessel control managed by autonomous technology," but be operated under the authority of officers located in the US. The aim is to show "global companies that operate the fleets of cargo ships, tugs, ferries, and the many other types of commercial workboats that they can integrate autonomous technology into their vessel operations for a host of technology-driven benefits." The tug will be steered by Sea Machines' SM300 autonomous system equipped with long-range computer vision. It's a "sensor-to-propeller" system that employs "path-planning, obstacle avoidance replanning, vectored nautical chart data and dynamic domain perception" to control a voyage from start to finish.

In a less conventional approach, some self-driving car makers or tech firms are using unusual proving grounds. For example, a start-up firm called Voyage (a spin-out of Udacity) is using Ford Fusion's outfitted with self-driving car gear and trying their vehicles out in a gated community of mainly retirees. The Villages Golf and Country Club in San Jose, California, provides a testing ground for Voyage. The speed limit there is just 25 miles per hour, and the roads are relatively tame. Residents can summon a Voyage self-driving car via a smartphone app and use it for door-to-door transportation within the community.

IBM's fully-autonomous edge AI-powered ship Mayflower has set off on its crewless voyage from Plymouth, UK to Plymouth, USA. The ship is named after the Mayflower vessel which transported pilgrim settlers from Plymouth, England to Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. On its 400th anniversary, it was decided that a Mayflower for the 21st century should be built. Mayflower 2.0 is a truly modern vessel packed with the latest technological advancements. Onboard edge AI computing enables the ship to carry out scientific research while navigating the harsh environment of the ocean--often without any connectivity.

Another ship called the Mayflower is set to make its way across the Atlantic Ocean this week, but it won't be carrying English pilgrims -- or any people -- at all. When the Mayflower Autonomous Ship leaves its home port in Plymouth, England to attempt the world's first fully autonomous transatlantic voyage, it will have a highly trained "captain" and a "navigator" versed in the rules of avoiding collisions at sea on board, both controlled by artificial intelligence (AI). The ship's AI captain was developed by Marine AI and is guided by an expert system based on IBM technologies, including automation software widely used by the financial sector. The technology could someday help crewed vessels navigate difficult situations and facilitate low-cost exploration of the oceans that cover 70 percent of the Earth's surface. Over its roughly three-week trip, the Mayflower sea drone will sail through the Isles of Scilly and over the site of the lost Titanic to land in Plymouth, Massachusetts, as the colonists on the first Mayflower did more than 400 years ago.

The "Mayflower 400", the world's first intelligent ship, bobs gently in a light swell as it stops its engines in Plymouth Sound, off England's southwest coast, before self-activating a hydrophone designed to listen to whales. The 50-foot (15-metre) trimaran, which weighs nine tonnes and navigates with complete autonomy, is preparing for a transatlantic voyage. On its journey, the vessel, covered in solar panels, will study marine pollution and analyse plastic in the water, as well as track aquatic mammals. Eighty per cent of the underwater world remains unexplored. Brett Phaneuf, the co-founder of the charity ProMare and the mastermind behind the Mayflower project, said the ocean exerts "the most powerful force" on the global climate.