5.3 Vehicle Requirements
Last updated
Last updated
The following is a list of minimal requirements for a vehicle to be permitted access to a course. Teams that arrive at the competition failing to meet the vehicle requirements will not be permitted on the course until the vehicle is modified to meet all requirements.
Inspection: Each team may enter one or multiple vehicles into the competition. Each vehicle is physically inspected by the TD team. The TD team may disqualify any vehicle that they deem to pose an unreasonable safety hazard to participants, staff, or the host facility. The sponsors and the host organization, their employees and agents, as well as the organizing committee, are in no way liable for any injury or damage caused to or by any vehicle.
Autonomy: Vehicles shall be fully autonomous and shall have all autonomy decisions made onboard the AUV. During qualifying, semi-finals, or finals run, each vehicle must operate autonomously. While carrying out the run, no communication is permitted between the vehicle and any person or off-board computer. Each vehicle must operate solely on its ability to sense and maneuver in the arena using on-board resources. Autonomy is not necessary for practice runs.
Submerge: When performing a qualifying, semi-finals or finals run, everything attached to the vehicle must be submerged with the vehicle. Any part that breaks the surface is considered a breach. During practice days, and practice runs, the vehicle and buoys may be used on the surface for communication.
Weight and Size: The weight of each individual vehicle must be less than the maximum allowed. Note that bonus points are awarded to vehicles below a certain weight, and penalties assessed for those that exceed it, see Table 3. The entire vehicle must fit within a 3ft x 3ft x 6ft (0.9m x 0.9m x 1.8m) volume.
Batteries: Vehicles must be battery powered. All batteries must be sealed to reduce the hazard from acid or caustic electrolytes. Batteries must not be charged inside of sealed vessels at any time. The open circuit voltage of any battery (or battery system) in a vehicle may not exceed 60 VDC. If a team has any questions or concerns, they are encouraged to contact the Technical Director Discord’s RoboSub Channel.
Markers: No materials (except for the markers/torpedoes and compressed air) may be released by the vehicle into the waters of the arena.
Torpedoes: For the safety of your team and those around you, no loaded torpedoes are allowed within the team tent. If you must test your launchers, tests may be conducted either in the water or in an open area pointing away from everyone and everything.
Harness: When a hoist or crane is used, vehicles are required to be slung on a harness or sling of some type. Even if the vehicle is light enough to hand carry, this requirement is in place to avoid harm to the vehicle. The harness/sling is used to weigh the vehicle and launch/recover. Since the diver in the water will be responsible for removing and placing the harness on the vehicle, make sure this is as easy as possible to do. If a hoist or crane is not used, a harness is not required.
Sled: If a hoist or crane is not used, a ramp will be used to deploy and recover the vehicle(s). The sled will be provided by the team, the vehicle will be placed on the sled and slid into and out of the water. Since the diver in the water will be responsible for removing and placing the vehicle on the sled, make sure this is easy as possible to do.
Kill Switch: All vehicles must contain a clearly marked kill switch that a diver can easily and readily activate. The switch must disconnect the batteries from all propulsion components and devices on the AUV. Note, this does not have to kill the computer. Upon reactivation, the vehicle must return to a safe state (props do not start spinning). Vehicles will not be allowed in the water without a properly working kill switch.
Shrouded: All props must have shrouds. The shrouds must surround the prop and have at least a 2” (5.1cm) distance between the spinning disk of the prop and the edges of the shroud (front and back). If you have a guard across the opening to prevent the insertion of a finger, this distance can be minimal. Commercial shrouded thrusters can be used as is. Vehicles will not be allowed in the water without prop shrouds.
Buoyancy: All vehicles must be positively buoyant by at least one half of one percent (0.5%) of their mass when they have been shut off via the kill switch.
Suspension: The officials will suspend the operation of a vehicle at any time they deem that it is required by safety or security considerations. If teams have any questions or concerns, they should submit technical descriptions of their vehicle to the officials in advance of the competition, with the goal of identifying potential safety concerns well in advance. Such technical information submitted to the officials will be held in confidence until the end of the competition.
Volume: The total dry volume for all the vehicles must fit within the maximum volume defined in the requirements. The vehicles are not required to start joined together, nor are they required to rejoin at the end of the run.
Weight and Size: Each vehicle is weighed, and the bonuses/penalties are calculated on a per vehicle basis (Table 3: Vehicle weight in air with Bonus or Penalties).
Gate: From the dock, each vehicle must pass through the validation gate first before heading off for its desired task.
Run Time: A team may elect to kill one vehicle and bring it back to the dock. If one (or more) vehicles are still out on the course, the competition time continues to count down (think of them as a swarm). Any vehicle that has been killed or has breached are returned to the dock and can be redeployed at any time.
Time Stop: The competition timer is only stopped when the last vehicle out on the course is under diver control and returning to the dock. The timer starts again once this last vehicle has returned to the dock, or the first vehicle leaves the dock (starting its new run).
Up to two vehicles per team are allowed in the competition. Along with the, teams who enter multiple vehicles must follow these specifications as outlines in :
Inter-Vehicle Communication: Teams wishing to have communication between each vehicle must post their method and frequencies on the channel. Acoustic frequencies that are the frequency range used by the pingers, are always off limits for inter-sub communication. Inter-vehicle communication and cueing of one vehicle by another is an advanced behavior that merits special points. If such behavior is executed, teams are required to present post-run supporting documentation (e.g., vehicle logs) to the judges.