The Indian Underwater Robotics Society

Posted 24 Jul 2006 at 19:00 UTC by steve

Anuj Sehgal writes, "The Indian Underwater Robotics Society (IURS), a diverse group of Indian students spread out all over the world has successfully collaborated to bring into India the complex technology of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). The first Indian robot designed by this group was called BhAUV (paper, PDF format) and competed in the 2005 AUVSI Competition in 2005, but met with many technical and logistical challenges because of a development time of only 1 month with a $1000 budget. Based on their experience, IURS has designed a whole new low-cost AUV named Jal (paper, PDF format), at a meagre cost of $1800. This AUV includes a passive sonar system, computer vision, navigational sensors and is extremely small and lightweight (7 Kg) for portability reasons. "

"IURS is conducting research on developing a low cost portable modular AUV that can be used by developing nations like India for research. IURS is also working with colleges, universities and students in order to popularize underwater robotics, train students and provide them with research opportunities in this field."

"With the achievement of creating India's first functional AUV behind them, IURS is now looking forward to competing in the 2006 International AUV Challenge. With a budget under $2000 IURS hopes many hobbyists will get encouraged to develop AUVs as well; since true growth only happens when a large community works together."