Three Qualifying and Practice Courses are available for teams to practice, demonstrate proficiency, and qualify for the Semi-Finals Round. These courses consist of all six (6) tasks. Multiple teams may be on a Qualifying and Practice Course at the same time. Teams may schedule times to practice or complete individual tasks on these courses with the Technical Director. Teams may attempt completion on individual tasks in any order.

The minimum success criteria for qualifying on the individual tasks will be included in the next version of the Team Handbook.

Teams that qualify will have access to the Semi-Finals Course once one becomes available. These courses consist of six (6) tasks: the mandatory navigation channel and tasks 2-6. Only one team may be on a Semi-Finals/Finals Course at a time. Note that teams may not know what course they are assigned until right before the start of their time slot.

During a Semi-Finals/Finals run the ASV must:

• operate autonomously throughout the entire run; no remote-controlled survey runs allowed and teams must navigate directly back to the starting position with no deviations when resetting for another run.

• enter the course through the gates in the Navigation Channel task.

• attempt the remaining Tasks 2-5 of their choice, in any order.

• return to home (Task 6) at the end of the run.

The scoring criteria for Semi-Finals and Finals are detailed in Section 4: Scoring.

3.1.1 Vehicle Transit

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 homedepot.com; or dump cart, available at homedepot.com.

3.1.2 Static Safety Inspection

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

More details on system requirements are available in Section 5.3: Vehicle Requirements.

3.1.3 Weight and Thrust Measurements

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 scaleline.com) 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.

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.

Weight and Thrust Scoresheet

This section provides details of the tasks in the Autonomy Challenge. Teams are encouraged to develop a strategy approaching these tasks that best suits their ASV.

Environmental Monitoring: Guardians of the Waters

In a world where our waters are under siege... Pollution spreads, marine life suffers, and climate change threatens to upend the delicate balance of Earth’s oceans. But when the planet’s future hangs in the balance, a new breed of heroes emerge - not from outer space, but from the vastness of the ocean.

Meet the Guardians of the Waters, a team of ASVs, armed with powerful autonomy and a cutting-edge mission to protect our blue planet.

3.2.1 Task 1 - Navigation Channel

The Navigation Channel task is a navigation demonstration showcasing the basic autonomous control and sensing capabilities. The ASV must autonomously navigate through two pairs of red and green buoys. The entire ASV must pass through both sets of the gates, without touching the buoys. The ASV must start its autonomous navigation a minimum of 6 ft. before the first set of gates.

During the Semi-Finals/Finals Round: This task is mandatory for all teams to qualify for semi-finals and is required to be completed first during each scored run.

NOTE The position and orientation of this task with respect to the shoreline may change during the competition and teams should be able to handle navigating their ASV to the starting position and holding station with little to no line of site from the shore.

Task Elements

Buoys are supplied from Taylor Made, www.taylormadeproducts.com.

3.2.2 Task 2 - Mapping Migration Patterns (Follow the Path)

The Follow the Path task demonstrates the ability for the ASV to sense and maneuver through a complex path, staying within the defined pathway, and avoiding contact with obstacles along the way. The task consists of multiple sets of gates designated by pairs of red and green buoys. The ASV passes between the sets of gates without touching the buoys and avoids intermittent endangered species (yellow buoys) and stationary vessels, placed within the pathway.

While maneuvering the pathway, the ASV counts the number of endangered species (yellow buoys) and reports its findings, using the defined guidelines in Section 3.2.7: Task Reporting Guidelines.

Task Elements

Buoys are supplied from Polyform US, shop.polyform.com.

3.2.3 Task 3 - Treacherous Waters (Docking)

To navigate treacherous waters, the ASV demonstrates the ability to correctly sense, locate and maneuver into an empty docking bay that corresponds with the correct color/shape of the day. A number of docking bays will be occupied by other stationary vessels. If the ASV encounters an occupied docking bay with the correct color/shape, the ASV then must avoid that bay and look for another with the correct color/shape that is empty and available for docking. The ASV may make contact with the dock and will not be penalized, however an ASV that makes contact with a stationary vessel occupying a bay will not be eligible for full points awarded for this task.

The docking bays could have banners with any of the following:

• Shapes – circle, triangle, square, plus sign

• Colors – blue, green, red

Task Elements

Dock units are supplied from Jet Docks, www.jetdock.com.

3.2.4 Task 4 - Race Against Pollution (Speed Challenge)

The ASV demonstrates the ability to rapidly sense the task elements with object recognition and decision making. This task demonstrates hull form efficiency coupled with its propulsion system, and the resulting maneuverability.

The ASV enters and station-keeps inside a holding bay and observes the light panel. The light panel will change from red to green after a random interval, starting the race clock and indicating to the ASV to quickly pass through the gate buoys. The ASV enters through gate buoys, circumnavigates around the blue marker buoy (counterclockwise or clockwise), and exits back through the same gate buoys. The gate buoys are moored 6 to 10 ft apart, and the marker buoy is placed 40 to 100 ft, from the gate buoys. This is a timed task. Time starts when the light panel turns green and stops when the bow (front) of the ASV crosses the first set of gate buoys.

The ASV completes the task without coming into contact with intermittent oil spills (black buoys) and stationary vessels, positioned anywhere within the task. The ASV detects the number of oil spills (black buoys) and reports its findings, using the defined guidelines in Section 3.2.7: Task Reporting Guidelines.

Task Elements

Buoys are supplied from Polyform US, shop.polyform.com.

3.2.5 Task 5 - Rescue Deliveries (Object and Water Delivery)

The ASV demonstrates the ability to locate stationary vessels throughout the course and deliver necessary resources to the vessel. Up to three orange vessels and up to three black vessels will be positioned throughout the course.

Orange Vessels - Water Delivery

The ASV locates the orange boats with a black triangle shape fixed to both sides of the vessel. The ASV delivers/shoots water at the black triangle shape. The ASV should should strike (with a steady and visible stream of water) the black triangle shape for at least 3 seconds. Performance of the ASV's ability to correctly and intentionally aim water at the target will be evaluated and scored by the judges observing the scoring run.

Black Vessels - Object Delivery

The ASV locates the black vessels with a black plus shape fixed to both sides of the vessel. The ASV delivers a racquetball to the vessel, either striking the plus sign or inside of the vessel hull; or simply dropping the ball into the hull of the vessel is acceptable. Teams will not be penalized if the ball does not stay in the stationary vessel after successfully hitting the plus sign or inside of the hull. The ASV can be pre-loaded with up to three racquetballs before each scoring run.

Task Elements

3.2.6 Task 6 - Return to Home

The Return to Home task demonstrates the ability for the ASV to navigate back to the launch point while avoiding interaction with any obstacles. The ASV returns through the gate created with two black buoys in autonomous mode after attempting Autonomy Challenge tasks. The ASV avoids all obstacles and task equipment (buoys, floating docks, etc.) on the way back. The time bonus will be awarded based on the number of seconds remaining on the timeslot clock and overall points earned during run.

Task Elements

Buoys are supplied from Polyform US, shop.polyform.com.

3.2.7 Task Reporting Guidelines

For the tasks with reporting aspects (Task 2 and Task 4) the ASV may choose to report information to the judges one of two ways:

• Method 1: The ASV may perform a maneuver consisting of driving in circles or rotating (in Yaw) in place, where every 360 degrees of rotation signifies one object detected.

• Method 2: The number of identified objects may visually be reported on the ASV’s operator control system or computer provided by the teams. The teams must notify a judge to be ready to observe the report at the end of the task. This visual display must be clear to read, with the number display font size no less than 0.5” tall and persist on screen without intervention for at least 30 seconds.

Either method must be completed before the ASV moves away from the task being reported on. Any report made before the ASV has entered the task will not be considered for points.

These challenges showcase ASV performance through autonomous behaviors designed to represent research and real-world applications.

3.1 Mandatory Activities

3.2 Task Descriptions

3.3 Qualifying Round

3.4 Semi-Finals/Finals Round