The 1st Zhuhai Wanshan International Intelligent Vessel Competition kicked off

On November 24, the first Zhuhai Wanshan International Intelligent Vessel Competition (ZWIIVC) officially kicked off. 11 teams from universities and research institutes gathered on Dong’ao Island in Zhuhai for a 4-day competitive tour.

This year’s event set the venue at the world’s largest and Asia’s first unmanned vessel offshore test site, Zhuhai Wanshan Unmanned Vessel Offshore Test Field. The participating teams will use a unified unmanned vessel platform, the ME120 multi-function unmanned vessel from OceanAlpha, as the development platform.

The USV platforms adopt catamaran modular hull design, and are equipped with power, communication, navigation, video and radar obstacle avoidance systems. The organizer provides industrial computers for the participating teams to install their self-developed control software. The competition mailly focuses on demonstrating the development and application of intelligent control technology of the contestants.

The competition is co-organized by four universities including Sun Yat-sen University, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, University of Macau and Wuhan University of Technology.

“The competition has multiple meanings. We hope that through the competition, the participating teams will have a more comprehensive experience and understanding of innovation and intelligent transportation,” said Wei Shi, president of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

The competition received applications from more than 20 universities and scientific research institutions around the world, including the United States, Singapore, and India. The highest individual prize of the competition reached 20,000 US dollars, and the total prize money was approximately 70,000 US dollars.