IBM-ovo samojadralno plovilo Mayflower ima še eno napako pri ponudbi za prečkanje Atlantika

No, this isn’t deja vu. IBM’s self-sailing Mayflower ship, tasked with making it across the Atlantic without any humans onboard to help, has suffered another mechanical glitch preventing it from continuing its intended journey.

Named after the vessel that brought passengers from England to America in the 17th century, the Mayflower Autonomous Ship (MAS) was expected to retrace that historical voyage. But its attempts to cross the ocean, led by ProMare – a non-profit organization focused on marine research, with support from IBM – haven’t exactly gone smoothly.

We admire the tenacity and the project’s aims but we’re not going to pretend this has been perfect.

Prvi lanski poskus se je končal v napaka. Aprila letos je ekipa poslala Mayflower nazaj na morje – pluti iz Plymoutha v Združenem kraljestvu v Washington DC v ZDA – vendar se je prejšnji mesec za kratek čas pokvaril in ga je bilo treba popraviti.

Zdaj, nekaj več kot teden dni po najnovejšem popravku, se zdi, da se je na morju spet pokvaril. Oborožen samo s kamerami in senzorji ter računalniki, ki poganjajo algoritme računalniškega vida in drugo programsko opremo za nadzor, ni človeka, ki bi ga krmilil, kaj šele popravil komponente, če naleti na mehanske težave. Namesto tega morajo Mayflower prevzeti inženirji, da ga pregledajo.

V tem zadnjem preobratu sage bo Mayflower po električni napaki odšepal do Nove Škotske v Kanadi, namesto da bi se usmeril v prestolnico ZDA. Ladja lahko nadaljuje pot proti Washingtonu, če jo bodo lahko popravili v Kanadi.

“Over the May 28-29 weekend, MAS developed an issue with the charging circuit for the generator starter batteries,” an IBM spokesperson told Register v izjavi.

“On May 30, the team had to switch to the back-up navigation PC. The IBM technology on board remains functioning as intended. ProMare made the decision to divert to Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, to investigate further.”

Prenos v živo dokumentiranje the Mayflower’s status and whereabouts show the craft making its way to shore and is expected to reach Nova Scotia’s capital Halifax by the weekend, we’re told. “The team is continuing to stress all systems to their limit and are learning a tremendous amount about how to design, build, and operate autonomous vessels,” the spokesperson added.

We guess everything’s a learning experience.

All of the ship’s mechanical issues so far stem from its generator system. The first glitch that cut its transatlantic voyage short stemmed from a mechanical issue that caused its backup diesel fuel reserves to leak. The Mayflower was unable to rely solely on solar power.

The second mishap that occurred last month was more minor; an isolation switch on the generator failed, robbing it of electrical energy. Now, there’s something wrong with the generator’s starter battery charging circuit.

Potem ko je bila ladja popravljena in poslana nazaj v morje 20. maja, je ekipa ProMare mislila, da bo lahko prispela v ZDA v 16 dneh. Glede na trenutno neuspeh se zdi malo verjetno, da bo Mayflower dosegel cilj v Washingtonu DC v tem času.

Register je ProMare zaprosil za nadaljnji komentar. ®