A team from NCTU attended an international autonomous boat competition held by the RoboNation, representing Taiwan. They competed with 14 would-top universities, made it to the final, and won fifth place. (Picture provided by NCTU)

A team from NCTU attended an international autonomous boat competition held by the RoboNation, representing Taiwan. They competed with 14 would-top universities, made it to the final, and won fifth place. (Picture provided by NCTU)

RobotX Challenge is a competition for on-water and in-water autonomous vehicle, which has been held since 2012. It helps students to develop interests in the ocean and autonomous robotic system. Meanwhile, it helps investigate the possibilities of using robots for ocean exploration, coastline patrol, emergency rescue at sea, marine ecological monitoring and protection, naval defense technologies…etc.

Led by the assistant professor of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE), Hsueh-Cheng "Nick" Wang, the cross-domain team consist of sixteen students from NCTU ECE, Institution of Electrical and Control Engineering and Mechanical Engineering, as well as two students from NTU Department of Ocean Engineering. With their design of boat sensing, computation and power, they implement the system that can self-drive on and in the water, competing with Georgia Institute of Technology, University of Michigan, National University of Singapore… etc.

There are strict safety checks during the competition that needs to pass before sending the boat into the water. The first item in the competition is gate passing. Each gate is made with four floats and attached with an underwater sound source below the entrance. The boat needs to locate the sound source with the hydrophone and pass the right gate. At the final of the competition, the ship needs to accomplish multiple tasks, including giving the entrance/exit, basic controls, obstacle avoidance, stopping and grabbing things underwater. It has to automatically avoid the obstacles and stop the boat to do the tasks correctly.

Hsueh-Cheng "Nick" Wang states that all things are difficult before they are easy when it comes to attending the competition for the first time. It is harder to find motivated students because most of them don''t have the experience of attending a large competition. It requires instructing and communication to organize the team, lead the team, and divide the tasks. He believes that these motivated students will keep glowing globally.

According to captain Yi-Wei Huang, this is the first time the team makes an on and underwater unmanned vehicle, which is a great challenge for every team member. During the competition, they need to modify the software in a very short time on each run, which puts a lot of pressure on them. Thus, they need to keep a high focus, stress resistance, and a clear mind during the competition.

A team from NCTU attended an international autonomous boat competition held by the RoboNation, representing Taiwan. They competed with 14 would-top universities, made it to the final, and won fifth place. (Picture provided by NCTU)

A team from NCTU attended an international autonomous boat competition held by the RoboNation, representing Taiwan. They competed with 14 would-top universities, made it to the final, and won fifth place. (Picture provided by NCTU)

A team from NCTU attended an international autonomous boat competition held by the RoboNation, representing Taiwan. They competed with 14 would-top universities, made it to the final, and won fifth place. (Picture provided by NCTU)