Built centuries ago, Amsterdam’s canals were the heart of the city’s transportation, trade, and defense system. But as the city modernized, much of its traffic shifted from water to land. Today, the historic walls and bridges surrounding the canals, never designed for the weight and volume of modern road traffic, suffer the pressure of modern life. How to ease the pressure on Amsterdam’s infrastructure?
This urgent need sparked a search for new mobility solutions that can move some of the traffic off the roads and onto the waterways, while also lightening the load caused by urban deliveries.
However, operating traditional boats at the scale and flexibility needed for modern logistics would require far more skilled shippers than are currently available. To truly transform mobility on the water, a new solution was necessary—one that didn’t rely on human pilots at all.
In response to this need the Roboat project took shape—fully electric, emission-free autonomous vessels developed through collaboration between the AMS Institute, MIT, Delft University of Technology, and Wageningen University, with support from Waternet, the City of Amsterdam, and the City of Boston.
The Roboat project was designed with several versatile applications in mind, each aimed at revitalizing Amsterdam’s waterways and easing the strain on its urban infrastructure. One of its most immediate uses is in passenger transport, with Roboats envisioned as eco-friendly water taxis or shuttle vessels. Using GPS navigation paired with detailed environmental mapping, the vessels can chart direct routes across the canal network. Beyond carrying people, Roboats are also set to play a major role in logistics, transporting goods across different parts of the city and reducing the dependence on heavy delivery trucks. In addition, these autonomous boats serve as valuable data collectors: equipped with a range of sensors, they can monitor water quality in real time and provide crucial insights for urban environmental management. Their modular design opens yet another possibility—by linking together, Roboats can create temporary structures such as floating bridges, offering flexible infrastructure solutions to ease congestion during peak hours. Finally, Roboats offer an alternative for waste collection, replacing noisy, space-consuming refuse trucks.
In 2023, Roboat officially launched as a startup, focusing on autonomous systems that can power both new and existing vessels. Today, Amsterdam’s public transport operator GVB uses Roboat’s technology to enhance ferry crossings on the IJ river, while its systems also helped carry passengers across the Seine during the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Roboat’s success in navigating complex urban waterways like those of Amsterdam, signals vast potential for future applications. As many cities around the world still weave their identity around canals and rivers, autonomous water transport solutions like Roboat could play a crucial role in easing road congestion.
