This past week was the 18th Annual International RoboSub Competition, hosted by the AUVSI Foundation. RoboSub is just one of the many amazing competitions hosted by the organization each year, providing students with an opportunity to apply their STEM education outside of the classroom. Not only does this event keep young engineers interested in the field of marine robotics, but it also helps foster relations between students and the organizations developing AUV technologies.
We had the chance to travel a few hours south to San Diego to check out the competition and we were simply blown away. The theme of this year’s challenge was Back to the Future – robots had to autonomously pass through the validation gate, check the flux capacitor, enter the time portal, refuel, set the date, and finally, return home.
SSC Pacific TRANSDEC test facility (left) and RoboSub 2015 sponsorship banner (right).
Besides being our first time attending the event, this year we also decided to be a sponsor. We wanted to be available to the teams to answer any questions or provide assistance if any last minute tweaking needed to be done, and we were able to fully admire the teams’ designs (and thrusters)! Here are just a few of the teams and their vehicles we had the pleasure of meeting:
University of North Florida with their AUV (left), Carl Hayden High School’s AUV (center), and Arizona State with their AUV (right).
You can check out all of the teams and videos on AUVSI’s Youtube channel here and the rest of our photos on our Facebook page.
University of Arizona’s AUV (left), University of Colorado Boulder’s team member and their AUV (center), and McGill University’s AUV (right). Notice McGill’s T100s with red propellers!
We want to thank AUVSI for hosting such an incredible event and congratulate all of the teams that competed! A special shout out to the teams who placed:
1st Place: San Diego State University
2nd Place: National University of Singapore
3rd Place: Maritime State University
4th Place: California Institute of Technology
5th Place: University of Arizona
6th Place: Far Eastern Federal University
7th Place: Amador Valley High School
We look forward to seeing everyone again next year!