Tokyo Institute of Technology recognised at at 8th Underwater Robotics Competition in Okinawa

Members of the Aqua Lab from the Society for the Study of Robotics — an official Tokyo Tech student club — have finished third at the 8th Underwater Robotics Competition in Okinawa. The contest was held in Ginowan City, Okinawa Prefecture on November 19 and 20, 2022. Team Tokyo Tech competed in the Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) Division of the competition with their robot Kurione2.

The Underwater Robotics Competition in Okinawa is one of the few robotics contests in the world that actually takes place in the sea. In the ROV Normal Task Division, which is inspired by undersea exploration, teams must score points by reading characters or QR codes placed on targets underwater with the camera mounted on their robot.

Maintaining a visual of these targets in the sea can be challenging due to waves, and a vehicle that is subject to increased water resistance may be swept away. The letters, numbers, and QR codes that need to be read are small, so the robot must be maneuvered left and right, forwards and backwards, but also up and down carefully. The best way to achieve this is to use many power units called thrusters, which help move the vehicle laterally. Too many thrusters will create a robot shape that succumbs to water resistance. The Aqua Lab’s Kurione2 is arranged so that its azimuth thrusters, which can change thrust direction, form an inverted triangle. This allows the robot to move left and right, back and forth, and up and down while achieving a streamlined shape that is less susceptible to water resistance.