USVA Project Delivered a Navigation Demo in 15 Weeks – Flexbot Transformed the Pace of Software Development
How do you build the software framework for an autonomous research vessel in under 1,200 working hours with a small team? The USVA project achieved exactly that with Flexbot. Flexbot enabled exceptionally fast, scalable and cost-efficient development and continues to drive the project forward.
Software development for mobile machinery has traditionally been slow, complex and reliant on highly specialised expertise. Tightening competition and rapid technological change are pushing companies to accelerate product development without compromising quality or safety. In high-tech products, much of the value and competitive advantage now comes from digitalisation and advanced software solutions. At the same time, talent shortages and team turnover complicate development work and increase the need for more efficient methods and tools.
Flexbot, developed by Atostek, meets this need by bringing automation to the core of mobile machinery software development. With Flexbot, even a complex device’s software framework can be created in weeks instead of months. The USVA project has already demonstrated this: the functional demo version was completed three times faster than a comparable project using traditional methods.
Automating the Routine Work in Software Development
Flexbot automates the repetitive and error-prone groundwork of software development. Once the system architect defines the architecture, Flexbot automatically generates the full software framework – interfaces, module connections, threading, messaging and other essential components – correctly initialised from the start. Tasks related to concurrency, asynchronous communication and message serialisation are handled early in the process without laborious manual coding.
This gives the development team an immediately usable and scalable software foundation, suitable for multi-developer workflows, large systems or varying project environments. Flexbot reduces risks, accelerates development and lowers costs across the entire lifecycle.
From a developer’s point of view, Flexbot removes a significant amount of repetitive, time-consuming and error-prone work. Developers can focus on application logic and core device functionality with confidence that the underlying system structure is robust and free of hidden issues.
Flexbot Tripled Development Speed in the USVA Project
In the USVA project, Flexbot’s impact was visible from day one. The team started from scratch and most had no previous experience with Flexbot. Of the five developers, three were early-career software professionals.
Despite this, the functional navigation demo prototype was completed in just 15 weeks – under 1,200 working hours in total. The prototype was capable of controlling an autonomous vessel within a high-fidelity physics simulator. Using traditional methods, an equally demanding project would likely have required at least 8–12 months to reach the same level.
Flexbot sped up progress especially in the areas of system architecture, communication mechanisms and concurrency. The core software framework was generated automatically, allowing developers to concentrate directly on capabilities that advance maritime autonomy.
During the 15-week period, the team implemented a broad set of functionalities: a physics simulator for the world and the vessel, manual remote control, autopilot, mission loading and execution, positioning, and the integrations between the simulator and task-management application. At this stage, the system already supported defining maritime routes and navigating them autonomously under autopilot control.
The USVA Project Continues at Full Speed
The USVA project has shown how modern software development automation accelerates progress and makes complex systems easier to build. When developers can focus on core functionality from the start, projects advance rapidly and resources are used where they matter most.
The journey continues. Next, the USVA project will bring development into real-world maritime trials and further expand the vessel’s autonomous capabilities. In summer 2026, the USVA software will be deployed on the eM/S Salama vessel in the Turku archipelago for autonomous navigation tests in real conditions. The tests aim to verify autonomous control, refine navigation and mission-management features and gather valuable practical data for ongoing development.
The image was generated using the Google Nano Banana Pro model and does not depict a real vessel or real-world environment.