AUTOMATED TRAILER LOADING SYSTEM FOR BOATS

A system and method for automatically loading a boat onto a trailer include a boat trailer acting as a centralized fixed point (or leader) for commanding a moving boat (or follower). The boat trailer is equipped with systems and components to identify and track a boat in three-dimensional space; to generate motion planning information (for example, way points and vectors) that can be used by a control system of the boat to automatically guide the boat through the water and onto the boat trailer; and to detect when the process of loading the boat onto the boat trailer is complete. The boat may include one or more tags that aid in identifying and/or locating the boat in space, as well as a control system that can automatically move the boat in response to information received from the boat trailer.