I had a wonderful experience at RoboSub! I got to network with members of other teams and with sponsors of the event. The environment was very collaborative; all the teams were willing to offer advice or discuss ideas to improve our vehicle.

Grace Westerman, Texas A&M University USA

Competitions

The SeaPerch Challenge

After following the curriculum to create an underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) from the SeaPerch kit, student teams earn the right to compete internationally by winning their local and regional SeaPerch Challenges. These teams will gather to test what they have learned by putting their SeaPerch ROVs through a series of underwater challenges, and will showcase their design in a juried engineering notebook competition.

2019 SeaPerch Challenge: First weekend of June 2019 | Washington D.C. Area

Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC)

Undergrad and graduate students compete to design, power and construct an intelligent ground vehicle that can follow lanes, detect obstacles, and follow waypoint navigation. The team competition teaches electrical, mechanical and computer science engineering, and awards monetary prizes.

27th Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC): June 7-10, 2019. Oakland University, Rochester, Michigan, USA.

Student Unmanned Air Systems (SUAS)

Students research, design, integrate, and demonstrate an unmanned aerial system capable of autonomous flight and navigation, remote imaging and communication, and execution of a specific set of tasks including Sense, Detect and Avoid of stationary and moving obstacles. 

2018 Student Unmanned Aerial Systems Competition (SUAS): June 13-16, 2018. Webster Field, Patuxent River, Maryland.

RoboBoat

Student teams design autonomous, robotic boats to navigate and race through an aquatic obstacle course. The behaviors demonstrated by these boats mimic tasks that are being developed for coastal surveillance, port security and other types of oceanographic operations. 

2020 International RoboBoat Competition: June 22-28, 2020 Registration coming soon!

RoboSub

RoboSub is an exciting underwater robotics program in which teams of high school and college students from around the world design and build an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). These vehicles are designed to autonomously navigate through a series of tasks. These tasks mimic ongoing research in Autonomous Underwater Systems. 

2020 International RoboSub Competition: Details Coming Soon!

>>>Watch the 2019 Finals!<<<

International Aerial Robotics Competition (IARC)

The longest-running collegiate aerial robotics challenge in the world, IARC advances state-of-the-art in autonomous aerial robotic behavior through international teams creating fully autonomous flying robots that demonstrate behaviors never before demonstrated while completing missions with real world applications. 

2018 International Aerial Robotics Competition (IARC):

  • American Venue: July 31 - August 2, 2018 in Atlanta, Georgia, USA
  • Asia Pacific Venue: August 3 - August 5, 2018 in Beijing, China

Maritime RobotX

Advancements in autonomous vehicle technology across all domains - air, land, and water - are moving fast in public and private sectors, including academia through research and competitions. In support of these advancements, the Maritime RobotX Challenge was created.  RobotX is RoboNation’s most complex robotic competition to-date. A new element of RobotX is the creation of the RobotX Forum, intended to be an interactive gathering with presentations from academia, senior officials, and industry leaders involved in the development and use of autonomous maritime systems.

For more information about RobotX, visit the RobotX website.

 

Programs

STEM Education & Robotics

In the next decade, 80% of jobs will require math and science skills. RoboNation was created to engage students of all ages, from kindergarten to college, in hands-on robotics activities to stimulate their interest in math and science as well as careers in unmanned systems. Explore how we fuel students’ imaginations, enhance their education, and give them a great start to a promising future.

SeaPerch

Build an underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) from a kit. Using low-cost, easily accessible parts, students learn tool safety and technical procedures get hands-on experience with basic marine engineering and ocean science concepts.  SeaPerch is taught as a part of a curriculum developed by MIT. 2

SeaGlide

This underwater glider is a non-tethered, autonomous robot that has no propeller and uses minimal energy. SeaGlide built from a kit and introduces students to programming, coding, real-world sensing and data collection.

RoboTour

Introduce future generations of scientists and engineers to the exciting world of unmanned systems at this free event for grades 5-12 (advance registration required). Students enjoy the opportunity to tour displays and robotic hardware in AUVSI's XPONENTIAL exhibit hall to learn about careers in the unmanned systems community.

Get Involved

BECOME PART OF THE ROBONATION COMMUNITY

RoboNation is for all levels of robotics enthusiasts. There are many ways to get involved, build your skills and feed your curiosity for a lifelong appreciation and love of robotics.

Whats happening near you

Locate robotics activities near you!

Search our calendar of events to find activities that fuel your interest and love of robotics. Are you running or hosting a robotics event? Post your event details to our community calendar!