News in Press-centre

The team of Far Eastern Federal University (FEFU) and the Institute of Marine Technology Problems of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IMTP FEB RAS) took the second place at the 20th International RoboSub Competition 2017 for Autonomous Underwater Vehicles. The unofficial world championship was held in San Diego, California on July 24-30. It was attended by teams from 44 technical universities of India, Canada, China, Puerto Rico, Russia, Singapore, the United States, Thailand, and Japan.

The Robosub Competition is held at the U.S. Navy Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center. The theme of the competition was chosen 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea science fiction novel by the French writer Jules Verne. Student-designed-and-built robots had to fulfill the mission of the legendary submarine Nautilus: collect pearls, pass over obstacles, save the sailors from the whirlpool, and battle a giant squid.

The team included: Maxim Sporyshev, team leader, post-graduate student of the School of Engineering (SE), Alexander Zhikharev and Andrey Makhlyarchuk,  undergraduate students of the School of Natural Sciences, Vladislav Bobrov and Ivan Chemezov, SE undegraduate students, Grigory Eliseenko, IMTP post-graduate student,  Sergey Kulik and Alexander Pavin,  IMTP research associates.

FEFU and IMTP FEB RAS joint team went to the competition with their Junior robot, which won Singapore AUV Challenge (SAUVC), the open Asian championship in underwater robotics, in March this year. Prior to RoboSub Competition they updated Junior with the new hydroacoustics, electronics, improved computer vision, installed a more powerful chip for processing signals and Wi-Fi. Due to the upgrade, the underwater robot submarine began to better navigate underwater and perform tasks independently.

According to Maxim Sporyshev, the competition among the teams was very strong, but they managed to take silver, and they were separated only 300 points from the winner—Cornell University (USA).

"Our robot coped well with acoustic tasks and partially fulfilled the mission, where video vision was required. For example, the AUV went well into the gate and got two weights in the baskets", commented the leader of the team.

Underwater robotics is one of the FEFU priority development areas. The university has an international authority in this area, which is confirmed by the successful performances of students and post-graduate students in international competitions. Since 2012, the FEFU team annually becomes a prize-winner in the class of autonomous robots in RoboSub Competition and Singapore AUV Challenge.

"Underwater robotics is a special pride of the FEFU. Silver medal in the world championship clearly demonstrates what heights our experts may achieve in the future," said the FEFU Interim President Nikita Anisimov. "In the new academic year, project activities in this area will become part of the educational process. The university is ready and will create the necessary conditions for the development of students and post-graduate students, involve new young robotics researchers, including talented students, in the process."