Robdos Team heads for the ERL Emergency Competition

The team has been working since 2016 on its own autonomous underwater robot. The end in view is the ERL Emergency Robots 2017 competition. This competition poses a grand challenge involving realistic, multi-domain emergency-response scenarios that can only be overcome if land, underwater and flying robots successfully cooperate in evaluating the environment, compiling information and identifying possible dangers.

Robdos Team is the name of the team that GMV has been backing since 2016. Its 13 members come from different fields: IT and robotics engineering, industrial and electronic engineering, industrial and control engineering, industrial design, electronic engineering, electronic engineering and robotics, naval and oceanic engineering, translation and interpretation, translation and marketing.

In 2016 the team set out to develop its own inhouse robot, WASABI (Water-resistant Autonomous System for Assistance, Bathymetry and Inspection), thanks to sponsors like GMV. The first step was the construction of a prototype platform, a testing catamaran, to be able to work simultaneously on construction and programming.

All this spadework has now resulted in a modular autonomous robot they have been working with since early 2017. This robot is capable of taking up different configurations to suit the particular activity to be carried out in each case. The key lies in separating control electronics from power electronics processing in two watertight containers. It can carry from 3 to 6 motors, allowing it to move in almost all degrees of maneuverability with an autonomy of 4 hours.

Robdos Team is currently putting the final touches to their preparations for the European Robotic League (ERL) Emergency competition, to be held from 15 to 23 September 2017 in Piombino, Italy, under the auspices of the University of the West of England (Bristol).