Monaco Energy Boat Challenge

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TGM SOLAR BOAT TEAM

Technologisches Gewerbemuseum Institute of Technology
8. TGM SOLAR BOAT TEAM

TEAM

From the Technologisches Gewerbemuseum Institute of Technology, the Department of Information Technology and the Department of Mechanical Engineering are jointly participating in the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge. The Department of Information Technology contributes three specialised project groups, each focusing on the development of artificial intelligence (AI) models addressing distinct aspects of autonomous vessel operation for one of the races. The Department of Mechanical Engineering is responsible for the design and fabrication of the vessel’s hull, with particular attention to hydrodynamic optimisation and energy efficiency, as well as the development of the steering mechanism to support accurate and reliable manoeuvring. All subprojects are carried out by students as part of their diploma theses.

Project

To find the appropriate course through the buoys for the different races machine learning and neural networks will be integrated into Unity via the Unity Inference Engine, at least for the purpose of object detection from the camera feed. To simulate the boat in the water in Unity, the Dynamic Water Physics package is used. So far, we know that we will need to train our own object detection model specifically for buoys. The development approach for the actual control AI, the component responsible for generating propulsion and steering commands for the boat based on the detected objects has not yet been determined. It is possible that the team will train a neural network for this purpose, although a symbolic AI (an explicitly programmed decision logic rather than a learned model) might also be more appropriate.