U of A team unveils new underwater design

A torpedo-shooting underwater robot may sound like a villainous gadget out of a James Bond movie, but instead the technological creation comes from a group of University of Alberta students hoping to win an international competition.

The team unveiled its cuttingedge machine Saturday, trying out some of the features in a university swimming pool.

“Every year we try to build a new robot ... For us, it’s about the amount of progress we’ve made,” said project lead and electrical engineering student Rumman Waqar.

From July 30 to Aug. 5 in San Diego, robots will face off in a 15-minute obstacle course as part of the annual RoboSub competition organized by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International.

The robots have to operate autonomously without any help from their creators, Waqar said. They have to examine their surroundings underwater, manipulate objects and even shoot torpedoes at targets.

“You have to pick and choose your battles and figure out which is the most optimal for you to gain the most points,” Waqar said.

The university’s Autonomous Robotic Vehicle Project team lovingly called their entry FAT Auri, or the Fully Autonomous and Tested Auri. Its predecessor, Auri, named after the Latin word for gold, placed 10th out of 44 teams last year.

“We redesigned the whole frame,” Waqar said, adding the robot also has more reliable electrical systems and new diagnostics.

“Previously we would just speculate ... Now we can see what the pressure inside the robot is, what the temperature is,” he said. “There are backups ... so if one thing fails, others can take over.”

Ahead of Saturday’s pool demonstration, the team faced a brief hiccup when water flooded the robot’s systems. Waqar said it’s one of the toughest challenges during competition.

“Every year there’s a team where the robot leaks.”

This year, the team operated on a budget of about $53,000 after finding sponsors.

“We’ve been growing steadily,” said business team leader Jon Machinski, who graduated from the computer science program.

He hopes to collaborate with Edmonton’s burgeoning artificial intelligence community in the future, he added.

SHAUGHN BUTTS A robotic sub developed by University of Alberta engineering students that will be entered into an international competition is lowered into a pool for testing.