“It can be used for ocean, marine and environmental monitoring, in maritime border surveillance and for gathering oceanographic data”, José Carlos Alves, a researcher in robotic systems from Portugal’s INESC TEC, told Lusa News Agency.
The lecturer from Porto University Engineering Faculty (FEUP), said that the robotic sailing boats “are similar to remote controlled models, but the difference is that they have autonomous navigation, controlled by an internal computer, programmed to accomplish a specific mission”.
“They are small boats, between one metre and 2.5 metres long that are only powered by the wind. They can stay at sea for weeks or even months”, José Carlos Alves said.
The competition, where there are going to be 10 robotic sailing boats, is going to be held at the towns waterfront, where, the researcher said, “there are exceptional, unique conditions” to hold the championship.
The competition is going to be held between 5 and 10 September, with about 50 participants from Portugal, Spain, France, the UK, Finland, the USA, Japan, New Zealand and China.