Rolls-Royce and Intel partner on self-driving ships project

The UK-based automaker and engineer, Rolls-Royce, has partnered with the California-based technology company.

The firms have agreed to develop fully autonomous ships, which Rolls-Royce has been working on for over a decade.

Rolls-Royce will provide ship technology, whilst Intel will supply components and systems engineering.

Intel’s Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), Xeon® Scalable Processors, Optane™ DC Persistent Memory, Optane™ SSD, and Intel® 3D NAND SSD will also be used in the development.

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 “We're delighted to sign this agreement with Intel, and look forward to working together on developing exciting new technologies and products, which will play a big part in enabling the safe operation of autonomous ships,” stated Kevin Daffey, Rolls-Royce’s Director of Engineering and Technology.

“This collaboration can help us to support ship owners in the automation of their navigation and operations, reducing the opportunity for human error and allowing crews to focus on more valuable tasks.”

The UK company announced in 2017 its plans to launch its first autonomous vessel without a crew for the ocean by 2025.

“Rolls-Royce is a key driver of innovation in the shipping industry we are proud to be working with them on smart, connected and data-centric systems that will be a foundation for safe shipping operations around the world in the future,” remarked Adrian Criddle, General Manager and Senior Vice President at Intel UK.