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What is

?

RoboSub is an international robotics competition hosted by the US Navy’s Office of Naval Research and RoboNation, held at the Woollett Aquatics Center in Irvine, California. Although it is normally held at the Naval Information Warfare Center in San Diego, California. AUVs are built by student teams to complete tasks that represent marine challenges, such as object detection and oceanographic exploration.

Throughout seven 12-hour days of competing and presenting, teams put their robots to the test and develop healthy rivalries along the way. By the end of the competition, teams will have been graded on obstacle course performance, team websites, outreach, design presentations, system assessments, technical papers, and introductory video

OBSTACLE COURSE CHALLENGES

  • Readjust bearing after being dunked randomly
  • Traverse through a specific side of gate
  • Complete rotations or barrel rolls for style points
  • Navigate via passive sonar or machine vision models
  • Navigate channel in slalom maneuver
  • Fire torpedoes through cutouts in the correct order
  • Drop markers off in the correct bin
  • Rotate same number of times as markers in a particular bin
  • Pickup objects and place them in the correct section of a platform
  • Return to starting gate
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ARVP's Robots

ARVP developed Koda and accelerated the development of Kenai. The system designs taken from Arctos were improved to increase reliability, stability, and ease of testing, and the new systems developed for Kenai are modular as well. Reliability and ease of testing are also a focal point of Koda's design. Both robots are meant to communicate with each other to complete competition tasks.

During RoboSub 2024, Arctos won 7th overall – making ARVP the highest performing Canadian team. In addition to this, we achieved the highest scoring competition run in our team’s history and received multiple awards for design deliverables and technical presentations.

Using the knowledge and lessons learned from Arctos, ARVP intends to reach the podium once again – with Kenai and Koda. More information on our robots can be found on our Robots page.
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Achievements

RoboSub 2025 Strategy & Goals

For RoboSub 2025, ARVP is deploying Kenai, a new AUV designed for maximum reliability and task consistency, alongside our vision-based support robot, Koda. Kenai features simplified mechanical subsystems, standardized electrical architecture, and improved control stability to reduce downtime and increase success rates on previously attempted tasks.

Here’s how we plan to tackle the course:

  1. Gate: Kenai will pass through the shark side of the gate, then signal Koda to follow. Koda will perform two barrel rolls for maximum style points before continuing its run.

  2. Slalom: Koda will use its updated vision servoing system to navigate between red and white pipes, aligning precisely and repeating this for each pipe set.

  3. Dropper: Kenai will proceed directly to the bins, dropping both markers into the shark side. This subsystem remains largely unchanged due to its proven reliability.

  4. Pinger: Kenai will use acoustic cues to determine whether to approach the table or torpedo task first. If the table is prioritized, it will backtrack to torpedoes afterward.

  5. Torpedo: From 0.3 m away, Kenai will fire at the shark and sawfish holes. The redesigned launcher is faster and more accurate, improving overall task reliability.

  6. Table: Kenai will align and surface inside the octagon, then use its new claw—featuring current sensing for grip verification—to pick up bottles and drop them into bins. Vision checks ensure successful deposits.

  7. Return Home: After completing the slalom, Koda will navigate home using visual alignment with the back of the gate.

For a more detailed explanation of ARVP’s competition goals and task-specific strategy, please see the competition documentation linked below. RoboSub 2025 here we come!

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