With a long-established track record of research and development in various fields of robotics and IT, Yanmar has been working to meld the hardware side of its boatbuilding with those technologies to produce robotic boats that can be used in marine surveys and infrastructure inspection.

The demonstration boat was developed under the Japanese Strategic Innovation Program for next generation technology for oceanic resources explorationand will be operated as an Autonomous Surface Vehicle for continuous marine resources monitoring by the Japan Agency for Marine Earth Science and Technology. Future activities will involve further marine testing with universities and research institutes, and expansion of the program to commercial use by industry.

The autonomous piloting technology involved in the robotic boat was also developed into an auto-docking system that can be integrated into fishing vessels or marine pleasure craft.

Yanmar marine engines will be exhibited at Seawork 2019 by UK distributor, Barrus Ltd.