Auvsi Foundation News

This year the SeaPerch Program will celebrate a half decade of national underwater robotic championships. On the last Saturday in May, the fifth National SeaPerch Challenge will be held on the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth (UMassD) campus where 150 teams of middle and high school students from across the country will compete on the national stage. The phenomenal growth of the event is evident with a simple look back to the inaugural National Challenge, staged in Philadelphia five years ago attracting 38 teams and 187 students.

The University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, MS, and the Mississippi Regional SeaPerch Committee in mid-May hosted the Fourth National SeaPerch Challenge on the campus of Southern Miss. It was here that 108 teams of 451 middle and high school students – students from 19 states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and for a first time ever, and international team from New Zealand – convened at the University’s Payne Center and Johnson Natatorium for a weekend of competition and fun.

Excitement continues to build for the Fourth Annual National SeaPerch Challenge, as 2014 will see the largest group of SeaPerch competitors ever to assemble and compete for the title of National Champion. Hosted by the Mississippi Regional SeaPerch Committee, this year’s national competition will be held at the University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss) in Hattiesburg, MS, on Saturday May 17, 2014. Here, more than 100 middle and high school teams from all over the country will come together for a weekend of learning, sharing, competing and fun.

The City of Indianapolis and the Indiana SeaPerch regions were the ideal combination to host the Third National SeaPerch Challenge at the Natatorium on the campus of Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) on May 17 – 19, 2013. On Friday evening, May 17, 83 top robotic teams from middle and high schools, after school and out-of-school programs in 23 states and the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico convened at the IUPUI Natatorium for a weekend of competition and fun-filled activities.

The theme of the 4th International RoboBoat Competition, sponsored by The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Foundation and the Office of Naval Research (ONR), was “The Four Elements.” Teams of students designed and built autonomous surface vehicles (ASVs) that faced challenges involving earth, air, fire and water. The competition was held at The Founders Inn and Spa, Virginia Beach, VA, June 8-12, 2011 and included 15 teams representing colleges and universities around the world.

College Students from the United States and Canada will bring their robotic boats to Virginia Beach to compete for up to $20,000 in prize money. The event, the second International Autonomous Surface Vehicle (ASV) Competition, is being sponsored by the U.S. Office of Naval Research and the Washington, DC-based Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Foundation. The competition will occur June 18-21 at the Founder’s Inn and Spa in Virginia Beach. The small lake on the resort’s property will be turned into the site of a simulated shipwreck of a ferry boat with passengers awaiting rescue. The student-built boats will be challenged to navigate a treacherous series of dangerous reefs and dock with the sinking ferry to rescue the passengers.