Team Nirma AUV won AMUROVc’23 competition

Team Nirma AUV won AMUROVc’23 competition at Aligarh Muslim University

Team Nirma AUV emerged as the national champions & won the ₹25,000 cash prize in AMUROVc’23 competition organised at Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. The competition was organized in three stages, namely, Comprehensive Design Report, POC Video, and the final offline competition. After a rigorous selection process in the first two stages, finally,  5 teams qualified for the final offline contest at AMU out of all the teams that participated nationally. A total of 17 team members contributed their expertise & dedication towards achieving this remarkable feat.

AMUROVc’23 Competition Tasks

The final competition’s tasks are based on a fusion of basic robot maneuvering & practical problems. The First task was ”Maze Walk”, The aim of the task was to check the maneuvering of the vehicle. The task is to move inside the maze arena on the surface of the pool.The vehicle has to move along the maze from the starting point & move towards the exit while following the path marked.

Second task was “Vision & Control”, The goal of this challenge is to find & capture a target amid two balloons at the pool’s bottom, each with a different color. & the Third task was “Pick & Drop”, The aim of the task is to reach the target pipe holder, then carry each pipe from their initial pipe holder position to the specified pipe holder location, beneath the water, to successfully complete the task.

Months of hard work, rigorous training, & determination paid off as Team Nirma AUV’s Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) – Agastya 2.0 Mini aced all the challenges & surpassed the judges’ expectations. The team’s outstanding performance is a testament to their expertise, passion, & resilience.

About Agastya 2.0 Mini :

Agastya 2.0 Mini is an underwater (ROV) equipped with six thrusters that provide 5 degrees of freedom (DoF). The vehicle, which is made up of acrylic material, weighs 17 kg in air & is designed for pick & drop tasks with its manipulator arm. It is equipped with an IP camera for vision & powered by an external power source that provides unlimited test run time. To communicate underwater, the vehicle is equipped with a wired communication system.  That allows it to communicate over a distance of around 1.5 km. Using RS485 as wireless communication is not possible underwater.

Nirma AUV Team Members :

• Neer Patel
• Kathan Patel
• Vishwesh Rajput
• Saket Joshi
• Sanskruti Gondaliya

Team Nirma AUV Achievements :

Team Nirma AUV was incepted in 2017 & since then, the team achieved a milestone in SAUVC’22, Singapore by accomplishing 7th Rank out of 93 teams that participated across the globe. It ranked 2nd runners up in AMUROV held at Aligarh, India on April’22. It has qualified as a finalist in Singapore Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Challenge 2018 (SAUVC’18). The team was also engaged in several other competitions such as SAUVC’18 & many NIOT competitions of ROV. The team’s conquests only continue as it eyes at Tecknofest’23, Turkey & team has qualified for the CDR stage.

What is Underwater Vehicle (UUV) :

Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUV) are underwater vehicles that can operate without human assistance or intervention. These robots can be categorised as Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) or autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are highly automated & operate independently, while Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are remotely operated by a human operator. Frequently, vehicles in the second group are classified as unmanned vehicles.

AUV is designed to work underwater & is controlled remotely by an operator. It is connected to the remote operator through a series of cables for transmission of data. AUV can be deployed underwater in place of human divers to carry out some specific tasks. It is equipped with a variety of sensors like cameras, lights sensors, SONAR, etc & may have one or many manipulators to grab things, cut the objects or lift the stuff. It can be used in shipwreck inspection, ship hull inspection, deep-sea study, ocean exploration, oil rigs, & oil spills to reach areas where humans’ reach is difficult.

For the development of the AUV which can complete the competition tasks, an interdisciplinary team of students is formed which is mainly structured into three divisions like Mechanical, Software, & Electrical. The mechanical division is responsible for hull design, waterproofing, gripper design, & fabrication of the structure.

The software division is responsible for developing software such as GUI interface, ROS programming, establishing communication, gaining remote access to onboard computers, & underwater image enhancement. While the electrical division looks after power delivery to each component, PCB designing, & development of the kill switch. All the divisions have their assigned tasks but still they are integrated & united in one team with one goal.

Help us grow our Positive Movement

We at The Robotics India want to create a Robotics ecosystem in India. By using the power of an effective Platform for enthusiasts, we want to change India. follow the Robotics India on social media handles for Robotics related news and updates.

Team Nirma AUV won AMUROVc’23 competition at Aligarh Muslim University For similar Robotics related news & updates follow The Robotics India. Also don’t forget to follow us on Instagram, Facebook, & Twitter. You can also subscribe to our Newsletter for robotics startup-related & robotics-related news.