Mumbai: A team of 21 engineering students from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, on Tuesday unveiled an upgraded version of the Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) that will be exhibited in the international Robosub competition in San Diego in July this year.
According to the students, the AUV named Matsya 2.0 is capable of carrying out predetermined and programmed tasks underwater and can also navigate on its own. It will be useful for underwater rescue operations without involving any human effort.
One of the members of team Matsya 2.0 said that it was a cut above its predecessors both in terms of dynamics and capabilities, without compromising on the shape or core abilities.
“The previous version had very basic functions which we wanted to improve. Therefore, we changed its software and hardware programmes. The biggest challenge was debugging the AUV and stacking board upon board of circuits,” said a member of team.
Another IITian present said that the project had almost been scrapped a month ago after some vital parts that the team had been working on went missing.
“There was a big hue and cry about sabotage and someone trying to scuttle the project as it had been shortlisted for the international Robosub competition. However, it was resolved after the missing parts were found,” he said.
