The coast of Portugal is not a bad place to launch a brand new autonomous maritime research vessel, especially when there's a swimming pool and a harbor right there, too. Along with a really, really nice beach. Clearpath Robotics brought their brand new roboboat, the Kingfisher M200, to IROS to introduce it to the world, and we've got some exclusive pics and video to share.
The Kingfisher M200 is an upgrade (or maybe more accurately, a total redesign) of Clearpath's Kingfisher M100. It's designed for autonomous or semi-autonomous research, and is ready to go pretty much right out of the box, with a GPS system, an IMU, hazard avoidance cameras, and a point n' click map-based control interface. It weighs just 30 kilos and can haul up to 10 kilos of payload either on top of or inside its body. If you take the battery out (or even if you don't), the pontoons fold inwards without needing tools and the whole thing can be carried around by one person and easily stuffed into the back of a car.
While the M200 may be small, it's fairly powerful, with a pair of electric water jets that can boost it to a maximum speed of about 4 knots (and they're already working on a faster version). Here's some video we took at IROS with Matt Rendall, CEO of Clearpath:
Not a bad looking robot, right? Let's be honest, though: what robot wouldn't look good with a backdrop like this:
It doesn't look like there's a heck of a lot of info about the M200 up on Clearpath's site yet, but I bet if you call 'em up and ask to order a baker's dozen, they'll be more than happy to get you whatever you need.
