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F rom September 20 to October 3, 2014 the NATO Center for Maritime Research and Experimenta- tion will host the Student Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Challenge - Europe (SAUC-E) for the fi fth year in a row, and for the fi rst time the euRathlon sea robotic competition. The NATO Center for Maritime Research and Experimenta- tion (part of the NATO Science and Technology Organization) confi rms and increases its commitment to foster a new genera- tion of robotic engineers. In September 2014, in addition to the Student Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Challenge - Europe (SAUC-E) hosted for the fi fth year in a row in CMRE’s sheltered harbor, the fi rst euRathlon sea robotic competition will be held the following week. Each year SAUC-E challenges multidisciplinary Uni- versity teams (consisting at least of 75% students members) to design and build Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) capable of performing realistic missions. The students’ AUVs must perform a series of tasks autonomously facing real life conditions such as limited visibility in the sea, with no control, guidance or communication from a person or from any off- board computer including GPS systems. This ninth edition will be held from September 20-26, 2014. The following week, from September 29 to October 3, 2014, for the fi rst time CMRE will also host the euRathlon sea robotic challenge. The challenge is the second event of the euRathlon project, a three-year effort, funded by the European Commis- sion, where robots and their teams of designers go head-to-head in a series of demanding outdoor scenarios that mimic the real challenges of a disaster situation. In 2015 the fi nal Grand Chal- lenge will feature all three elements (land, sea and air) to respond to a mock disaster scenario inspired by the Fukushima accident. Competition scenarios for euRathlon 2014 have been de- signed to lead up to the Grand Challenge and will consist of fi ve different marine scenarios: “long range autonomous under- water navigation,” “environmental survey of the accident area,” “leak localization and structure inspection,” “interaction with underwater structures” and a “combined scenario.” Teams and their robot vehicles may compete in one or more scenarios. All scenario tasks can be undertaken by a single AUV. However, in some scenarios a team can compete using only an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV), or a combination of USV and AUV. CMRE to Host AUV and Robotics Competitions www.seadiscovery.com Marine Technology Reporter 25 MTR #5 (18-33).indd 25 6/9/2014 10:20:47 AM
