Clearpath is thrilled to announce that we’re providing an award of $10,000 – in collaboration with EURATHLON – toward the purchase of a Kingfisher Unmanned Surface Vessel (USV) for teams competing in this years’ EURATHLON competition! This award will give participating teams the opportunity to showcase their research in a competitive challenge to inspire intelligent, autonomous robotics technologies for disaster response scenarios. The three-year competition was initiated because of the Fukushima accident in 2011 and will drive advancement in life-saving technologies.
Land, sea and air
EURATHLON is supported by the European Commission with a vision to provide real-world robotics challenges that will test the intelligence and autonomy of rugged robots in disaster-response scenarios. Starting in 2013, teams focused on land-based scenarios and this year (year 2), teams will dive in to sea-based scenarios; next years’ (for those curious) will take to the sky!
The bot to handle the job!
The five scenarios designed for the EURATHLON 2014 sea competition are:
1. Long range autonomous underwater navigation
2. Environmental survey of the accident area (mapping)
3. Leak localization and structure inspection
4. Interaction with an underwater structure (manipulation)
5. Combined scenario
The Kingfisher in action!
With a list of tasks that are nothing short of difficult, teams will need to compete on a reliable, flexible platform. This is why we’re excited to partner with Eurathlon for the Kingfisher award. The Kingfisher USV is a waterproof, battery operated, autonomous robot boat. The vessel is equipped with electric thrusters, GPS capabilities, and semi-planing hulls. It also includes advanced payload capabilities, easy stow and is one-man portable. Thinking of participating in EURATHLON 2014? Want to take advantage of this unique award opportunity? Get in touch with one of our unmanned experts today!
More about EURATHLON
This year’s EURATHLON competition will be held at NATO Centre for Maritime Research and Experimentation (CMRE) in La Spezia, Italy, from Sept 29 – Oct 3, 2014. The competition will take place in the sheltered harbor outside the CMRE waterfront. Competitors will deal with real life conditions (i.e. limited visibility and salty water). For more information, visit http://www.eurathlon.eu.