Russian robotics team took first place in the Asian Championship in Singapore. They even managed to beat the favorites of the tournament — the Japanese. The Pandora drone, designed specifically for this championship, helped them win.
Evgeny Davydov with the details on the unique robot and its talented creators.
Singapore. 35 teams from around the world, including Japan and China. The development of Russian students is considered the best. The shots of the final swim — the underwater vehicle "Pandora", using only its own "vision", without contacting a person, overcomes the distance in the pool, passes through the gate, and locates an ultrasonic underwater beacon.
Ivan Chemezov, Winner: “We assembled a completely new device, developed completely new software, it was difficult, but we managed. Ours didn't break, unlike all the other devices.”
The students themselves designed and assembled the device. Six months of work of engineers and programmers. One of the features of the machine is a unique navigation system that does not depend on satellite communication. Analyzing acoustic signals, "Pandora" paves the route.
Anton Tolstonogov, winner: "By hydroacoustic guidance, go to the baskets, drop a marker in the baskets, and then knock the ball off the pedestal by another sonar beacon".
The team of the Far Eastern Federal University has been taking prizes each year since 2012. And here is another team from Russia — from Bauman University. Their hotel room is an improvised workshop. The creative mess is the last check of all nodes before the start.
"Do you have the screwdriver?"
A test swim of an autonomous robot of their own design "Cousteau-2" is arranged in the hotel pool. In the water, the device performs the task given on land. And now — the decisive swim.
"Come on, go down!"
"Cousteau-2" is the fourth at the finish. It lost a few seconds on the dive. But on the whole, the students say, the robot showed itself well, it passed between the obstacles, discovered the cache.
Vyacheslav Plotnikov, Bauman University student: "Such devices are used for inspection tasks in order to inspect the bottom of a reservoir. Or to pick up a sample of something from the bottom".
Scientists are confident that such devices are the future. Exploration of the oceans' waters or laying pipelines. And perhaps, very soon these works will be done by robots instead of humans.
Evgeny Davydov, Vesti.
