Autonomous Vehicle News
While self-driving cars are typically aimed at going from point A to point B, a newly developed self-driving boat invented by researchers in Texas has a bigger purpose—to conduct surveys of the depth and terrain of bodies of water. The vessel developed by the UTEP team was born of an idea Alvarez had several years ago. To complete its bathymetric task, a multibeam echosounder—a sonar system—emits sound waves from the bottom of the boat. Meanwhile, the type of sound that returns to the device helps it detect the type of material on the seafloor. “My goal was to make the boat state-of-the-art and I think I did that," Sotelo said of the work.