The First USV Pilot Technique Competition Held in Zhuhai

On July 14 2019, the first USV Pilot Technique Competition kicked off in Xiangshan Marine Technology Bay in Zhuhai, China. Contestants competed on both theoretical knowledge and field operation for the final award.

19 contestants joined the competition. Their first challenge was to set up configurations in the shortest time to connect the USV, control base station and remote controller. All contestants complete the task with ease and entered the second challenge over the manual operation.

With sophisticated techniques, all contestants controlled the USVs expertly to bypass obstacle buoys and arrive at the terminal point of the designated route.

The final and the toughest challenge was the autonomous navigation. Contestants were asked to set an automatic sailing route for the USV according to the given start/end coordinates and direction so that the USV can sail according to the route autonomously. We were excited to see that all contestants were able to cope with field conditions such as the weather, tidal level and flow rate to ensure navigation accuracy and complete the challenge in the shortest time.

6 winners with the best technique and shortest operation time were awarded certificates and prizes.

One contestant drove the USV to bypass all obstacles fluidly