COMPETITIONS •

SAUC-E: Fostering the Next Generationof Scientists and Engineers

By Vladimir Djapic and Thomas B. Curtin

This month’s column describesthe recent Student AutonomousUnderwater Vehicle (AUV)Challenge-Europe (SAUC-E)

competition. AUVs have many mili-tary, commercial, and research appli-cations. Current uses include mappingthe sea floor, measuring water proper-ties for environmental assessment andbattle-space awareness, mine detectionand disposal, and harbor protection.AUVs can reduce risk and produce

higher quality datathan manned plat-forms. Their relativecost effectivenessfor a specific mis-sion must be care-fully evaluated inthe context of theoverall system be-ing deployed usingstate-of-the-artbaselines. Experi-ence with trade-offs of such system

engineering is seldom gained in formalacademic curricula. Student competi-tions were envisioned as a complement tocoursework, where system engineeringwould be applied to real-world under-water missions in a venue that is at oncecompetitive and collegial, thus maxi-mizing learning. The annual SAUC-E isone such event. In addition to its educa-tional objectives, SAUC-E also exposesstudents to organizations involved inmaritime research and development,providing unique recruitment opportu-nities for sponsoring companies andagencies. One such organization is the

NATO Undersea Research Centre(NURC), one of the world’s leadinginstitutions in maritime research anddevelopment. To maintain a competi-tive advantage for NATO navies, NURCmust first and foremost stimulate andattract the best talent to meet presentand future maritime challenges. Host-ing of SAUC-E contributes to this stra-tegic goal.

Past and PresentThe annual SAUC-E competitionstarted in 2006 and was initially heldin the United Kingdom at PinewoodStudios. The competition was held inthe United Kingdom again in 2007 butlater changed its location to QinetiQ’sOcean Basin Tank. In 2008, the com-petition moved to IFREMER of Brest,France, and was hosted by NATO De-sign and Grants Administration (DGA).The competition moved back to theQinetiQ’s Ocean Basin Tank in 2009.The Tenth SAUC-E was held in LaSpezia, Italy, at NURC. In contrast tothe previous events, which were stagedin controlled bodies of water (largeindoor tanks), SAUC-E 10 exposedcompetitors to real ocean conditions(e.g., limited visibility, salt water, var-iable weather, and fish) since it washeld outside the NURC waterfront,which is a partially sheltered harbor.The University of Girona, Spain, tri-umphed over eight other teams to winthe fifth SAUC-E 10. The team’s AUV“Sparus” successfully completed anumber of mission tasks, includ-ing passing through an underwatergate and performing a pipeline in-spection, all of which must be autono-mously performed by the vehicle. Thesecond prize went to Heriot–Watt

University from the United Kingdomwith its AUV “Nessie V,” whileENSIETA from France took home thethird prize. Other participating teamswere from the University of L€ubeck(Germany), the University of Bremen(DFKI RIC Bremen, Germany), theUniversity of Cambridge (United King-dom), the University of Southampton(United Kingdom), the University ofWest of England (United Kingdom),and ESIEA (France). Prior to the finalin-water run, each of the nine teamshad to make oral presentations andwrite a technical paper describingthe vehicle’s design and approach tothe mission. The teams were judgedbased on technical merit, completionof mission tasks, a journal paper,safety of the design, craftsmanship,and innovation. SAUC-E 10 wassponsored by the Office of NavalResearch Global (United States), Thales(United Kingdom), ACSA Under-water GPS (France), CSSN (ItalianNavy), Defence Science and Technol-ogy Laboratory (United Kingdom),ECA (France), Subsea Asset LocationTechnologies Limited (United King-dom), and NURC.

FutureRecently, operationally deployed AUVshave been mostly limited to execut-ing missions preplanned by an oper-ator. In such systems, the operatorsintervene to observe events, make de-cisions, and guide the vehicle to achieveits mission. Although the research at afew institutions has capabilities toreplan a mission on the fly, based ondata from the AUV’s sensors, a con-sistent framework for such autono-mous actions remains a research goal.

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MRA.2011.942481

Date of publication: 13 September 2011

10 • IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER 2011

•The NURC competition

will continue to be

distinguished by a

real-world ocean

environment and

missions with

cooperative vehicles.

•

An AUV with a data-reactive missionplanner can acquire data more quicklyand reliably than a fixed mission plansince the reactive planner can keepthe vehicle in the vicinity of, or ma-neuver relative to, interesting observa-tions. Further toward the autonomyand capability in mission planning, themaneuverability of the present state-of-the-art vehicles is often not suited tosuccessful accomplishment of many ofthe desired tasks. An increasing varietyof sensors are becoming available foruse in onboard AUVs, resulting inenhanced sensing capabilities. Thisdiversity stimulates an interest inexploiting AUVs for increasingly com-plex missions, requiring the vehicles tofunction in uncertain, cluttered envi-ronments, and to react to changingconditions. Advances in underwaternavigation, control, and sensor dataprocessing can lead to quickly deploy-able, scalable systems with an order ofmagnitude increase in the speed of oper-ation, reduction in life-cycle cost, and

increased interoperability over existingsystems. Performance gains jump to anew level when squads of autono-mous vehicles are employed. A squadis a small group of vehicles with

complementary capabilities that opti-mally achieve a mission through co-operative behavior.

•

(continued on page 14)

SEPTEMBER 2011 • IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE • 11

l intelligibility in identifying rhym-ing words

8) decontamination tests.The input for developing the stan-

dardized tests was provided by techni-cal search specialists from the FederalEmergency Management Agency with100 items in 13 categories on the re-quirements for robots. These were ana-lyzed and narrowed down, and standardtest methods were developed to haverepeatability for testing and use in fieldproduction. These methods were im-proved by intensive experiments usingthe RoboCup Rescue Robot League.The methods were verified by the firstresponders’ evaluation of existing

robots using training facilities such asDisaster City. Finally, the standardswere proposed to the committee ofASTM International.

Figure 1(a) shows a field for theendurance test proposed. A robot tra-verses the number eight path on theramp terrain. Distance and time percharge of battery are tested by the re-petitive traverses under light and darkconditions. The test data are written inthe form shown in Figure 1(b).

Figure 2 shows the test fields formobility. In (a), a robot surmountsthe step made of pipes that simulate aslippery condition by rotating, andthe elapsed time is measured. Maneu-

vering capability, including rolloverstability and detracking prevention onhigh-friction surfaces, is tested by usingthe inclined plane (b). Figure 2(c)shows a step field made of squarewood posts for traversal testing.

Three standards have been approvedby the committee and are active. Ad-ditionally, 19 methods for testing willsoon become new standards, with moreitems being prepared for submission tothe committee. Four test courses will beready for testing worldwide in Gaithers-burg (NIST), San Antonio (SouthwestResearch Institute), Kobe (InternationalRescue System Institute), and Koblenz(University of Koblenz-Landau).

•

•Competitions (continued from page 11)

Order-of-magnitude increases inperformance will only be achieved bynew generations of motivated, in-novative system engineers. A signifi-cant source of such engineers willcontinue to be the future AUV studentcompetitions. In SAUC-E 11, NURCwill pioneer the first step toward coop-erative behavior by actively involvingNURC’s autonomous surface vehicle(ASV) in the mission profile. For one

of the tasks, the competing AUV isrequired to track the moving ASV bysearching for the signal of an acousticpinger attached to the ASV. NURCwill host the SAUC-E events for thenext two years, which will provide con-tinuity and allow organizers to makeimprovements each year. The NURCcompetition will continue to be distin-guished by a real-world ocean environ-ment and missions with cooperative

vehicles. Competitions with commoneducational goals and a maritime focushave been fielded in the United Statesfor a number of years and are beinginitiated in Singapore. The long-termvision includes a periodic World Cupthat would bring together the topregional competitors. Potential spon-sors of the regional or global events areencouraged to contact the author bye-mail at djapic@nurc.nato.int.

(a) (b) (c)

Figure 2. Fields for mobility test. (a) Pipe step, (b) inclined plane, and (c) step field.

14 • IEEE ROBOTICS & AUTOMATION MAGAZINE • SEPTEMBER 2011