Calling all underwater auto-nomous vehicles: The Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center San Diego (SSC San Diego) in Point Loma will be hosting the ninth international competition for robotic submarines from Friday, Aug. 4, through Sunday, Aug. 6.
The International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition, which will take place at SSC San Diego’s historic Transducer Evaluation Center (TRANSDEC) pool, includes current U.S. Navy robotic technologies.
The event will have 22 teams from major universities and educational institutions ” including one high school “from the U.S., Canada, India and Japan.
Each team must complete a “mission,” or challenge course, with three major tasks: to rendezvous with a “docking station,” to inspect a pipeline and mark an area in the pipeline, and to home in on an acoustic beacon and surface within a specified zone.
“The main goal of the competition is not necessarily related to the technology itself,” said Daryl Davidson, executive director of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), one of the event’s sponsors. “It is to come up with a fun and challenging way to get students interested in unmanned systems, or what you could call robotics.”
Davidson described the teams as start-up businesses, explaining that they had to formulate their design and from there decide on team members. The best teams usually comprise people from various disciplines, including business, he said, which helps when teams have to provide their own funding.
“There are so many learning lessons that the competition forces them to attain,” Davidson said.
Teams have to try to think about the big picture, he explained, describing how previous teams have come across difficulties in transporting their vehicle from airport to hotel, or hotel to competition site. Apart from the experience that the competition gives, Davidson said that it is also a great networking opportunity for the students.
“One of the residual benefits we’ve seen is that there are a lot of companies that work in this business that are starting to come to this competition and hire students on the spot,” Davidson said. “I believe that SSC San Diego, our host, has even hired six or seven former competitors.”
The International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition is open to the public free of charge. The event will run from 8 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 4 and 5, and from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 6.
Free parking is available near the TRANSDEC facility. Signs will direct visitors to available parking areas. A shuttle bus will be operating continuously between the parking areas and the competition site. Please be aware that parking along Catalina/Cabrillo Road is not allowed. Cars parked illegally will be towed.
For more information on the competition, visit the AUVSI Web site, www.auvsi.org/competitions/water.cfm.For information about SSC San Diego programs, visit www.spawar.navy.mil/sandiego/.