FLIR: Boston Whaler and Mercury Marine are Marine Industry’s First to Demonstrate Raymarine DockSense for Outboard Propulsion

Today, Boston Whaler, the leading manufacturer of unsinkable family fishing boats, and Mercury Marine, the world's leading manufacturer of recreational marine propulsion engines, are the first to demonstrate the Raymarine DockSense^™assisted docking system on an outboard-powered Boston Whaler vessel at Mercury’s Lake X testing facility.

Launched earlier this month with Prestige Yachts at the Düsseldorf Boat Show, DockSense is the recreational marine industry’s first intelligent object recognition and motion sensing assisted docking solution. Docking a boat can be a stressful experience, even for the most experienced captains. The DockSense system uses cameras and video analytic technology to create a Virtual Bumper^™zone around the vessel and assist boat owners in tight quarter docking.

DockSense continuously monitors the vessel’s surroundings, keeping the autonomous system updated with real-time detection of objects like pilings or another vessel. Mercury’s autonomous system works in concert with DockSense and its own joystick piloting system to avoid the object and assist the captain in guiding the vessel to the dock. The DockSense system includes multiple FLIR machine vision cameras, a central processing module, and the DockSense App running on Raymarine’s Axiom navigation display.

Mercury’s powerful autonomous system will support a wide variety of future uses for assisted and semi-autonomous functionality, as it can be integrated with sensors like vision systems. This demonstrator provides an example of how Mercury’s technology is both high-performing and adaptable to partner systems, like DockSense, to make boating easier.

Visitors at the 2019 Miami International Boat Show will have the opportunity to see Raymarine DockSense technology on board a Mercury powered Boston Whaler 330 Outrage and a Prestige 460 motor yacht at Pier 8, Slips 877 and 879.

To learn more, visit http://www.raymarine.com/docksense.

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Karen Bartlett

Saltwater Stone

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k.bartlett@saltwater-stone.com