Oystermaran - MIT Sea Grant

Construction of the Oystermaran Hulls
The hulls are created with a blue foam core and layers of fiberglass to create a strong exterior.
Finished Oystermaran Hulls
The hulls are coated in nontoxic marine-grade paint for a final layer of waterproofing.
Tank Testing
Pool Testing
River Testing

Meet the Oystermaran!

In Cape Cod, Massachusetts, oysters are grown in baskets that float on the surface of the water. To ensure proper water flow, these baskets must be flipped at least once a week. However, at their peak, these baskets can weigh up to 27kg/60lb. Flipping the baskets can be a slow and tedious process, which could even result in worker injury. Enter the Oystermaran, an ASV to automate the basket flipping process.

Check out some pictures of the Oystermaran development and stay tuned for updates!

Current efforts:

New hulls in the making!
Two test boats for in-lab testing
Inter-basket movement autonomy testing in Gazebo

Check out our recent presentation and poster at NACE 2026:

Design of Oystermaran V3 – Andre Greene

Autonomous Movement through Oyster Farm – Erin Menezes

Meet the Oystermaran Team:

Project Advisor: Dr. Andrew Bennett (abennett@mit.edu)

Manuel Valencia (MEng 2026)
Erin Menezes (SMME 2026)
Andre Greene (MechE. Undergrad Thesis 2025)
Current Undergraduate Researchers
- Dylan Soto
- Kong Yang
- Lilac Walia
- Robert Chondro

Oystermaran Publications:

E. Menezes, A. Bennett, D. Barrett and M. Triantafyllou, “A Simulation of an Oyster Farm to Aid in Developing Autonomy for Aquaculture,” OCEANS 2025 Brest, BREST, France, 2025, pp. 1-9, doi: 10.1109/OCEANS58557.2025.11104409.
A. Dapoz, D. Klahn, F. Gillespie, A. Bennett and M. Triantafyllou, “A Prototype USV Designed for Maneuvering in a Crowded Oyster Farm,” OCEANS 2023 – Limerick, Limerick, Ireland, 2023, pp. 1-9, doi: 10.1109/OCEANSLimerick52467.2023.10244581.
D. Klahn, F. Gillespie, S. Monsalvo, A. Dapoz, A. Bennett and M. S. Triantafyllou, “Oyster Farming by Autonomous Surface Vehicles : An Implementation of Control and Perception Systems,” OCEANS 2023 – Limerick, Limerick, Ireland, 2023, pp. 1-8, doi: 10.1109/OCEANSLimerick52467.2023.10244408.
M. Kornberg et al., “Autonomous vehicle for oyster aquaculture,” OCEANS 2021: San Diego – Porto, San Diego, CA, USA, 2021, pp. 1-6, doi: 10.23919/OCEANS44145.2021.9705669.

Oystermaran Alumni:

Annemarie Dapoz (SMOE 2024) **
Fiona Gillespie (MEng 2024) **
Daniel Klahn (MEng 2023) **
Jerry Zhang (MEng 2022) **
Matthew Tung (MEng 2021) **
2.017 Class (2021): Michelle Kornberg (Meet the Oystermaran – MIT News), John Adeyeye, Jacob McGuire, Alex Patton, Margaret Sullivan, Andrea Badillo, Anthony Kriezis, Alejandro Miranda, Herbert Turner
Undergraduate Researchers: Mario Mendez, Calista Huang, Alexandra Ding, Sebastian Monsalvo, Drew Gable, Toya Takahashi, Sreeja Thipireddy, Ashley Margetts, Joshua Padilla, Flora Klise