Underwater craft competition kicks off

CHENNAI: Underwater craft with a wide range of purpose, built by students, were the focus of scrutiny at this year’s Student Autonomous Underwater Vehicle competition. The finals of the competition saw eight teams from across the country compete for the approval of the judges.The annual event is being conducted by the National Institute of Ocean Technology and the Ocean Society of India. The winning team will secure a sponsorship from NIOT to participate in the international competition for autonomous craft to be held in San Diego in July.Two teams from the Indian Maritime University in Vishakapatnam and one team each from New Delhi’s Ambedkar Institute of Advanced Communication Technology and Research, IIT Kharagpur, Aligarh’s Zakir Hussain College of Engineering and Technology, Saveetha Engineering College and Panimalar Institute of Technology from Chennai and Kalasalingam University from Krishnankoil were the eight teams that competed in the finals.The finalists were selected from 17 teams that had submitted their preliminary design reports in November 2011. Their craft were judged on 20 parameters including design, fabrication, programmability, mobility and autonomy.