ONR’s RoboBoat competition makes a splash in Sarasota, Florida

ByRebeccaWard

Office of Naval Research

ARLINGTON, Va

A unique maritime competition,sponsoredbytheOfficeofNaval Research(ONR),recentlytookplaceinSarasota Florida.

The 16th annual RoboBoat competition brought together teams of students from across the globe to assemble and navigate autonomous unmanned surface vehicles (USV) through a series of real-world challenges, including coastal surveillance, port security and oceanographic exploration, at Sarasota’sNathanBendersonPark

Kelly Cooper, a program officer in ONR’s Sea Warfare and Weapons Department said the Department of the Navy (DoN) shares a common objective with RoboNation, the non-profitbehindRoboBoat,initssupportof initiativestoengageandmotivatestudentsof all ages in STEM (science, technology, engineering,mathematics).

RoboBoat, and other competitions like it, create a pipeline for the DoN, supplying a potential workforce capable of making substantive contributions to the emerging fieldofmaritimeautonomy.

Cooper said she has met a number of participants from ONR-sponsored events whoendedupworkingfor,orwith,theNavy andMarineCorps

“We constantly run into students who are now working for the Navy as a scientist or engineer, who have competed in these competitions,andpriortotheirinvolvement were really unaware of the Navy for their careers, shesaid.

Cooperaddedthat,ateachofthecompeti- tions,ONRdistributesinformationtoparticipants about internships and graduate-level scholarships, helping further the students’ opportunities in STEM while supporting the DoN’s recruitment of a technologically advancedworkforce

RoboBoat is a learning experience as well as a competition, helping students develop technicalproficiencyastheyworktogetherto overcomechallengesthatsimulatereal-world conditions of maritime navigation. Collaborationiskeytotheirsuccessandapartofthe competition

Coopersaidthejudgesconstantlyobserve how the participants interact with one another

“We have certain behaviors that we’ve come to expect of teams It is amazing how well the teams on site cooperate and help each other They don’t want to win because everybody does poorly. They want to be the bestofeverybodydoingwell.”

Rules for the competition dictate teams must be composed of no less than 75% students and no more than 25% alumni, industry,academicorgovernmentpartners

It’sanopportunityforstudentstonetwork said Cooper Many will go on to pursue careers in STEM, like fifth-year university studentHannahBrood.

This was Brood’s second competition with Lake Superior State University’s Team AMORE(AutonomousMaritimeOperations andRoboticsEngineering).

“I was able to compete in RobotX in November, so that was the 2022 Maritime Robotics Challenge which was held in Sydney,Australia,”saidBrood

Three of her teammates in Sydney joined heratRoboBoat,alongwithafourthstudent.

Brood graduates in May 2023 with a dual major in mechanical and robotics engineeringandisalreadylookingtoherfuturecareer path.

“I’ve spoken with some people from the Naval Information Warfare Center on the Pacific side, so NIWC Pacific and I know there’s a couple of other opportunities at placesaroundtheU.S.,”saidBrood.

Winners were announced at an awards ceremony on March 28 RoboBoat gave out morethan20monetaryawards thehighest amount going to the winners of the Autonomy Challenge Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember, East Java, Indonesia, came in first place; followed by Karadeniz Technical University Trazbon, Turkey; and the GeorgiaInstituteofTechnology,Atlanta,Georgia.

First, second and third place winners for Design Documentation went to the MassachusettsInstituteofTechnology,Cambridge, Massachusetts; Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember;andUniversityofMichigan,Ann Arbor,Michigan All winners may be found on the 2023 RoboBoatwebsite:https://roboboat.org.

The Naval STEM Coordination Office located at ONR, oversees investments in education, outreach and workforce initiatives Last year, DoN outlined its five-year plan to advance STEM through competitions and events like RoboBoat to cultivate thetechnicalworkforceneededfortheNavy and Marine Corps to remain on the leading edgeofscientificinnovation.

Rebecca Ward is a contractor for ONR CorporateStrategicCommunications.

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