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© NCSU Student Media 2011
Members of the Underwater Robotics Club work on there most recent robotic sub, the Seawolf III, in there workspace in Burlington Laboratories on Tuesday October 25 2011. From their website, "Seawolf III features 8020 aluminum framing, a Lenovo netbook, and new software architecture dubbed 'libseawolf.'" Photo by Tyler Andrews
Despite a diverse collection of students from across campus and a small budget, the Underwater Robotics Club continues to make waves among international competition.
The club finished eighth overall in the AUVSI Foundation International RoboSub Competition. The event was held at San Diego’s Space and Naval Warfare Systems Center in July.
The competition was the first for the team’s newest robot, Seawolf IV. Using some of the design from Seawolf III, the new craft featured a rebuilt aluminum frame, five thrusters, an onboard computer, and two cameras.
Seawolf IV is an autonomous vehicle, navigating with the onboard cameras, and acoustically, using the Analog Devices Blackfin DSP development board.
The club had to overcome the difficulty of a small budget to pull of the complexity and advancement of Seawolf IV. The 11-member team consistently puts in 30-hour weeks to get its craft in the best possible position to compete.
The URC relies on important donations from top-level companies, such as Altium, Intel and Pelican. Despite a tight budget, the club benefited when Pelican donated a waterproof case, which houses the onboard computer.
July’s competition was a tough test for the team from Raleigh. Twenty-six of the leading teams made the trip to Southern California from around the world. It attracted teams from around the U.S., such as the University of Florida, the University of Maryland and teams from China and India.
To claim victory in the water, teams had to take on various challenges laid out by the judges. Among them were an obstacle course, transporting objects from different points and locating objects.
The qualification round proved very successful for the URC team, including one run, in which the robot was challenged to navigate its way through the water. URC President Chris Thunes, senior in applied mathematics, called it the “best ever at N.C. State.”
At the finish of the qualification, N.C. State found itself in the finals for the first time, scoring 2,068 points.
In the finals, teams were thrown for a loop, as the judges changed much of the competition, forcing teams to make adjustments.
The inexperience of the URC team caused them to struggle in the finals. The team registered just 350 points, finishing eighth out of a possible eight, but the last place finish mattered little to Thunes.
“[It] was awesome for us, there is a big difference being ninth out of twenty-two and eight out of twenty-eight,” he said. “Plus, it was our first time in the finals.”
Secretary Michael Brown, senior in computer science, credits the URC’s finish with its newfound focus on team coordination and an intensified motivation after 2010’s ninth place finish.
“Historically, the team hasn’t been organized,” he said. “[This year] we stepped up our game, and were really in good shape.”
For the future, the URC is already committed to building and developing Seawolf V. Still in its infancy, the robot resembles Darth Vader’s TIE Fighter Advanced X1, from Star Wars Episode VI: A New Hope.
Thune’s major goals for the next months are to build Seawolf V, and to get as many people involved as possible. Many of the current members are seniors and the team hopes to continue competing and garnering better finishes.
To anyone interested, the Underwater Robotics Club meets every Tuesday and Thursday in Burlington Hall on East Campus. You can find more information about the club online at www.ncsurobotics.com.