The irony of building a peopleless ship is that it's taken a village of people to do it. In this episode, we meet some of people behind the Mayflower Autonomous Ship project. Hosted by project director, Brett Phaneuf, this episode gives voice to the software engineers, AI experts, ship builders, students and many others from organizations around the world who have come together to make this dream a reality. They talk about their roles, experiences, funniest memories, and their visions for the future of the ocean. 

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CREDITS

Hosted and edited by Martyn Gooding and Hekate Papadaki

Producer - Ben Toland

Engineer - Ariel Sultan

An IBM production

In this episode, we’re talking about exploration of two final frontiers - the ocean and space.. We are joined by some amazing guests who are pushing against the limits of human existence both above, into the dark space of our universe and below, into the depths of our oceans.

We discuss the differences and similarities between space and ocean exploration covering technology, operational practices, and personal perspectives.

We’re joined by Dr Jyotika Virmani, Executive Director at Schmidt Ocean Institute and previously the Executive director of the X-Prize for Planet & Environment. We also have Naeem Altaf – who is IBM's Chief Technology Officer for Space Tech and Dr Chritian Karasch - a research associate working in the field of Human Spaceflight at the German Space Agency, DLR. Christan is also the project lead for CIMON - the Crew Interactive Mobile Companion, an AI assistant for astronauts in space.

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CREDITS

Hosted and edited by Martyn Gooding

Producer - Ben Toland

Engineer - Ariel Sultan

An IBM production

In this episode, we’re talking about the thing that the Brits like to talk about the most - the weather.

But in this case, it’s ocean weather and its importance to the Mayflower Autonomous Ship and other vessels. There’s a really important feedback loop we discuss here: MAS needs solar to run but also detailed meteorological information to navigate safely.

In turn, the ship is deepening our understanding of critical issues such as global warming - one of the planet’s most critical challenges.

The weather will be the single most important factor in determining MAS’s success. To discuss how and why, we’re joined by Leon Brown, head of global meteorological operations and Paul Smith, a solutions engineer - both from IBM’s The Weather Company, along with a former navy frigate captain and business development director of MSubs Paddy Dowsett.

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CREDITS

Hosted and edited by Martyn Gooding

Producer - Ben Toland

Engineer - Ariel Sultan

An IBM production

The United Nations has declared this to be the Decade of Ocean Science in a bid to advance understanding of the ocean and how to not only protect it, but also how to use it, and manage it more sustainably. If we are to achieve that, we need more data.

We are joined in this conversation by Fredrik Søreide, Co-Director of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship Project, James Fishwick, head of Smart Sound Plymouth and Rosie Lickorish, from IBM Research. We discuss how autonomous technologies like the Mayflower Autonomous Ship are changing our ability to collect vital oceanographic data, extending the capabilities of oceanographers around the world.

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CREDITS

Hosted and edited by Martyn Gooding

Producer - Ben Toland

Engineer - Ariel Sultan

An IBM production

In this episode, we’re talking about how to build an artificial intelligence (AI) captain, which is exactly what the Mayflower Autonomous Ship uses to self-navigate across the ocean.

Our guests are Don Scott, the Chief Technology Officer for the Mayflower Autonomous Ship and MarineAI - a new start-up focussed on the development of commercial AI Captain systems. Alongside Don is Rob High, IBM’s Chief Technology Officer for edge computing - another theme we’ll be exploring today.

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CREDITS

Hosted and edited by Martyn Gooding

Producer - Ben Toland

Engineer - Ariel Sultan

An IBM production

Episode 1: The Origin and Vision of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship Project

In this episode, we are talking about the origins of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship.

This new-generation Mayflower is designed to deepen our understanding of critical issues such as global warming, ocean plastic pollution and marine mammal conservation.

This conversation is less about what the ship is and more about why it was created and where the idea came from. We also get into what it takes to innovate within the understandably risk-averse maritime industry.

We talk to Brett Phaneuf, the Co-Director of the Mayflower Autonomous Ship project and Managing Director of MSubs - the company that built the pioneering new autonomous ship. Joining Brett is Eric Aquarone, a systems strategist from IBM, who has been steering this project for IBM since the beginning.

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CREDITS

Hosted and edited by Martyn Gooding

Producer - Ben Toland

Engineer - Ariel Sultan

An IBM production