ARLINGTON, Va., July 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- On Sunday, July 15,
 a team of engineering students from the University of Florida brought home
 another victory to add to their school's winning streak. The team's
 "SubjuGator" Autonomous Underwater Vehicle took first place for the third
 consecutive year, a feat that, to the engineering world, is equal to a
 championship football or basketball win for the school.
     Last week 27 teams from the U.S., Canada, India and Japan arrived in
 San Diego with unmanned vehicles they designed and built to compete in the
 10th Annual International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition
 sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International
 (AUVSI) and the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR). By Sunday, only seven
 teams moved on to the finals. The rankings and awards for the final seven
 teams are:
     University of Florida -- $8,000
     University of Rhode Island -- $4,000
     Ecole de Technologie Superiore -- $3,000
     Cornell University -- $2,000
     University of Central Florida -- $1,000
     University of Southern California
     United States Naval Academy
     The vehicles developed by the students were required to traverse a
 complex course that included going through an underwater gate, releasing a
 buoy, following a pipeline, dropping markers, lifting a "treasure," and
 surfacing within a breach zone. The vehicles had to achieve these missions
 autonomously, with no remote operation. Many teams achieved a portion of
 the course, but only a few were able to complete it.
     "This competition is about more than the incredible technological
 expertise of the competitors, it's about teamwork and camaraderie across
 team lines" said Daryl Davidson, Executive Director of AUVSI. "Nothing is
 top secret here, all of the students come to win, but they see the course
 as their rival, not the other teams. They talk, they share ideas, they help
 each other ... it's remarkable."
     The following is the full roster of participants which included two
 high school teams, one home school team, and 24 collegiate teams:
     Amador Valley H.S. Robotics Club
     Cornell University
     Delhi College of Engineering
     Duke University
     Ecole de Technologie Superieure
     Georgia Tech
     Kyushu Institute of Technology
     Massachusetts Institute of Technology
     North Carolina State University
     Northwest AUV Fellowship
     San Diego City College
     San Diego iBotics AUV
     Smurphs Pair
     Southern Methodist University
     Southern Polytechnic State University
     United States Naval Academy
     University of Central Florida
     University of Colorado at Denver
     University of Florida
     University of Maryland
     University of Ottawa
     University of Rhode Island
     University of Southern California
     University of Texas at Dallas
     University of Toronto
     University of Victoria
     Virginia Tech
     For more information about the final standings for all 27 teams, and
 the technical details of the competition please visit:
 http://www.auvsi.org/competitions/h2o.cfm
     The Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) is
 the world's largest non-profit organization devoted exclusively to
 advancing the unmanned systems community. AUVSI's 5,000 members worldwide
 come from government organizations, industry and academia. AUVSI is
 committed to fostering, developing, and promoting unmanned systems and
 related technologies.
     Contact: Alysa Reich
     reich@auvsi.org
     +1 703 845 9671 x202
 
 

SOURCE Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International