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GPS waypoint-oriented navigation, and the WasteShark also now features Lidar, ultrasound and vision sensors for collision avoidance. “That will prevent an operator from inadvertently hitting a boat or wall,” Hardiman says. “We put it onto a path of waypoints, and geofence it into a square it can work in. Each temperature point it takes is geotagged so we can build up that map for the city.” Furthering autonomy is vital to environment-focused USVs such as the WasteShark. As Hardiman notes, “A lot of these jobs are reactive and very labour- intensive. Generally, local government cleaning staff are sent out on rowboats, and only when large, observable clusters of debris or algae are seen that require the government to respond. “If instead we have USVs autonomously cleaning all the time, the little incidental bits of waste that build up gradually and cause massive toxicity in harbours and canals will be addressed, preventing much larger problems down the line.” Shipping Between harbours and the oceans, Kongsberg Maritime is aiming to make autonomous shipping a reality, beginning with the waterways and fjords around the Baltic. The autonomous container ship Yara Birkeland , a joint project between Kongsberg and chemicals company Yara, is set to go through manned tests soon, and will be captained from a bridge housed in a shipping container. Tests of the autonomous capability are scheduled for 2019, with fully autonomous operations set for 2020. However, as Peter Due, director of autonomy at Kongsberg Maritime, says, the progression of autonomous shipping may occur sooner than originally planned. “When it comes to autonomous shipping, legislation is the biggest hurdle. In maritime law, there’s no hindrance with regard to autonomous shipping over short distances – between the UK and Norway, for example.