Simrad’s new AutoCaptain isn’t just a berthing aid, it can do the whole manoeuvre for you, from spotting an empty space to holding it against the dock while you tie up. Hugo Andreae reports
A boat that berths itself has long been the dream of everyone from nervous owners to enthusiastic sales people, but despite repeated efforts from some of the industry’s biggest players, bringing a viable system to market has proved frustratingly elusive. Now at last, Simrad claims to have cracked it with its new AutoCaptain Autonomous Boating System.
If that sounds like a mouthful, using it is disarmingly simple. All you do is switch on the dedicated app on your Simrad MFD, select which berth you’d like to dock in, press the Autodocking button and sit back while it manoeuvres you gently into place. If that’s not enough, it can also leave a berth (Undocking) and manoeuvre you out of a tight spot such as a lock entrance or fuel berth queue (Move to Position). And like the Martini ads of old, it can be used ‘any time, any place, anywhere’.
The key to this versatility is that instead of relying on fixed radar beacons or existing charts, it uses six separate cameras and a pair of GPS receivers to build its own digital map of the area. Each of these cameras consists of two identical lenses set 27cm apart with a 100-degree field of vision.
Once you’ve selected an empty berth and initiated the auto-docking process, the software starts
manoeuvring the boat towards the dock using the same control systems as the joystick
Much like a pair of human eyes, each of these lenses sends a real time view to a computer that compares the pixels on both images to calculate the distance of everything it can ‘see’. By combining the information from all six cameras, the software builds up a 360-degree digital 3D map of the area.
To make it easier for the user to visualise, this is displayed on screen as both a live video feed and a 2D bird’s-eye view with the boat at the centre and colour-coded features representing water, other boats, land and potential docking spaces.
Once you’ve decided which berth to dock in, you simply drag and drop your boat into the allocated space, taking care to position it bow or stern-in and port or starboard side-to as normal. Provided the computer senses the chosen slip is big enough (it needs about 4ft on either side), it then plots a path and waits for you to press the Start Autodocking button.
When the boat is close enough to the chosen berth, the docking process gently eases it into the
space. As with manual joystick control, it can move sideways as well as forwards, backwards and rotating
When you do, the computer takes control of the boat’s throttles, steering and bow thruster (where fitted) to manoeuvre the boat slowly and safely into place, regardless of wind or tide. Once it has touched, it will even hold the boat alongside while you secure the lines.
If, during the docking process, the system senses anything unexpected in its path such as a passing kayak or tender, it will either pause or reroute itself. You also have the option to pause or disengage it manually, either by pressing one of the on-screen buttons or by overriding it with the boat’s throttles or joystick.
While it is claimed to work in almost any environment, including low-light conditions, and normal wind and tides (within the joystick’s usual manoeuvring abilities), it is not without its limitations. For starters, the cameras have to have a clear view of the berth – you can’t simply select an empty pontoon on the MFD’s chart and tell it to go there.
The fi nal stage brings it alongside the pontoon and holds it against the dock while you tie up
It might also struggle in fog, darkness or very strong winds and tides. And of course the cameras can’t see what’s happening underwater so won’t be able to judge whether there’s enough depth when coming alongside a tidal quay or slip. Ultimately, the skipper or captain of the boat still has to keep a careful watch over proceedings and be prepared to take back control if needed.
Rather more frustrating for existing boat owners is that AutoCaptain is currently only available on new-build boats fitted with Mercury engines and joystick control rather than as a retrofit.
Being part of the giant Brunswick Group, along with Mercury Marine and Boston Whaler, Simrad has developed all the software to work with the Mercury operating system, while the system itself is built into the vessel, ‘preserving its aesthetics while providing unparalleled precision, ease of use, and situational awareness.’
That also explains why the first boat to offer it as a factory-fit option is the new Boston Whaler 405 Conquest, although it will soon be introduced to other Brunswick Group brands. At the time of going to press the pricing hadn’t been announced but expect something in the region of $30-50,000.
Verdict
While we’ve yet to see AutoCaptain in action, it does appear to be a more complete, versatile system than anything we’ve seen from Volvo, Garmin or Raymarine.
We’d be interested to see how it copes in a busy Mediterranean port, where stern-to berthing spaces are rarely more than a couple of feet wider than the boat, and it needs to be made available to a wider range of boats for it to really catch on, but if it lives up to its promise, this could be a game-changer.
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