RoboSub CUAUV Competion Entry Sponsored by ADLINK

Internet-related services provider ADLINK Technology says it is to sponsor the Cornell University Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (CUAUV) team’s entry into next week’s 17th Annual International RoboSub competition at the Space and Naval Warfare Command Research facility in San Diego, CA, from Monday, July 28, through Sunday, August 3, 2014.

The CUAUV’s Gemini submarine is powered by ADLINK’s Express-HL COM Express computer-on-module, featuring a 4th generation quad-core Intel® Core i7 processor with Mobile Intel QM87 Express chipset.

The Express-HL acts as Gemini’s lone on-board computer, tasked with all vision processing and decision-making required by the AUV. In addition, the Express-HL COM Express carrier board runs its own controller, as well as communicating with micro-controllers on several custom-built peripheral circuit boards also included in Gemini’s design.

“When we started designing Gemini back in August (2013), we knew that we wanted something smaller and more powerful than the 3rd generation Intel Core i7 processor on Mini-ITX form factor that we used on our 2013 vehicle,” explained Markus Burkardt, CUAUV team leader and Cornell University senior.

“We decided that a quad-core computer-on-module was the best option to reduce overall vehicle weight and footprint without giving up performance, so we started contacting vendors for support. We were really happy when ADLINK agreed to be our sponsor.”

ADLINK explain that the CUAUV team, made up of 43 students from three of Cornell’s colleges, spent more than 20,000 person-hours per year designing its vehicle and has won the annual RoboSub competition four out of the last five years. The team began testing Gemini in pool and lake waters back in June, performing and perfecting anticipated manipulation tasks for the mission elements included in the competition’s obstacle course.

The international RoboSub competition is co-sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) Foundation and the U.S. Office of Naval Research (ONR) with the goal of advancing the development of AUVs. The event serves to foster ties between young engineers and organizations developing AUV technologies.

For more information on this year’s RoboSub competition: http://bit.ly/1AezuVQ