3.1 Mandatory Activities
Last updated
Last updated
Teams must provide a cart to move the vehicle around the competition site and launch the vehicle into the water.
Cart must be manually propelled on site, no motorized carts.
Cart's handle must be solid, no rope or chain.
Cart’s width must be less than thirty-six (36) inches.
Carts are recommended to have six (6) inch (or more) diameter rubberized wheels.
Carts must be able to get wet with minimal impact to function.
Carts must be negatively buoyant in the water.
Suggested carts: garden cart, available at ; or dump cart, available at .
Prior to deploying in the water, the ASV must meet all safety requirements. At a minimum, the following areas are checked:
Emergency Stop System (location of switches, on-board and remote functionality)
Demonstration of remote Emergency Stop failsafe functionality by removing the batteries or turning off the remote Emergency Stop transmitter.
Safety issues related to a propeller or hazard
All components are properly secured
Towing points and tow harness is present and secure
During Finals runs, the vehicle must be re-weighed, and re-thrust tested every time it is launched into the water. If the vehicle stays in the water between finals runs, teams may forgo the weight and thrust test a second time. However, if a team is observed to be switching significant components or making modifications on their boat, the judges or TD staff may ask for a new measurement.
ASV weight > 140 lbs.
Disqualified!!!
140 lbs > ASV weight > 110
-250 - 5*(w - 110)
110 lbs > ASV weight > 70
2*(110 – w)
ASV weight ≤ 70 lbs
80 + (70 - w)
Dimensions greater than:
- three feet of width or
- three feet of height
- six feet of length
Disqualified!!!
Thrust (t) vs weight (w)
100*(t / w)
More details on system requirements are available in
Vehicles are weighed at the start of every day of the competition. Teams transport the vehicle on their cart to the scale (similar to a veterinary scale, available at ) for weight measurement. The stable scale reading weight is recorded. Thrust is measured after the vehicle is deployed in the water either in manual or autonomous mode. The thrust value used is the highest scale reading that is stable for at least two seconds. Teams may opt to repeat their thrust measurement at each deployment.
