Photo courtesy U.S. Navy/John F. Williams.

by Scott Kesselman



Next week, students from 15 major universities representing the United States, Singapore, Australia, Japan and South Korea will compete in the AUVSI Foundation’s Maritime RobotX Challenge in Singapore.



The Office of Naval Research has provided each team with an unpowered Wave Adapted Modular Vessel and grants to equip the craft with customized battery-powered propulsion systems, sensors, computers and software.



The competition, with a $100,000 cast prize, will test the vessel’s autonomous command and control in a series of tasks including obstacle detection and avoidance, docking a target identification, underwater search for an acoustic source, and identification and reporting of a specified target.



The Marine Advanced Research WAM-V is a 16-foot watercraft with independent suspensions so it can contour the water’s surface, according to a company press release.



“The lightweight and highly maneuverable WAM-V is the ideal platform for this competition,” says President and CEO Mark Gundersen. “The modular construction allows the WAM-Vs to be easily customized, transported and assembled.”