Automated Ship

It all started when I met Marc Chaumet Lagrange, head of the Hydrographic Department of the Port of Bordeaux. He told me about his vision of a small craft that would carry out hydrographic surveys on its own.

Right away, it sounded like a great project. A couple of months later, we were applying for a grant for research and development from ANVAR.

With the help of the technicians and engineers of the Port of Bordeaux, we quickly designed the ship, and ordered the different pieces of equipment.

The meat part of the project was the design of the autopilot of the boat. Differential GPS information was integrated in a Kalman filter to provide a state estimate. H2 and H∞ control solutions were implemented. The boat was tested first in the river, then near Pauillac where it faced strong wind and current pertubations.

Helen Loeb was on my team for three years while I headed the Dredging Department of the Port of Bordeaux. She proved a great capacity to synthesize, innovate on robotic aspects and integrate different systems. She played a key role within the multidisciplinary team, making her organizational and communication skills very valuable. She received high honors for her thesis in robotics. I hold her human, intellectual and professional qualities in high esteem.
-- Marc Chaumet-Lagrange, July 2009.