Heriot-Watt University Triumph
The Heriot-Watt University team was third time lucky as it triumphed over international opposition at the third edition of the Student Autonomous Underwater Competition - Europe (SAUC-E 2008), held at the IFREMER deep wave tank near Brest, France. This year the event was hosted by La Délégation Générale pour l'Armement (DGA).
The Heriot-Watt University team designed a hover-capable Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) capable of carrying out a complex in-water mission with no direct human control. The team of students worked hard to ensure that the AUV completed all the mission goals. The work paid off as for the first time in the history of the competition the AUV, named "Nessie", completed all of the tasks which included touching a submerged buoy, dropping markers on a target on the tank floor, and surfacing in a marked zone above two tyres.
Each year the competing teams rely on sponsorship from industry to develop their AUVs. Nessie was sponsored by BP and SeeByte, and this support was crucial in enabling the team to produce such a successful entry.
