RobotX 2026
A boat, a drone and a sub, working as one team
Our 2026 RobotX system has three vehicles: a surface boat (USV), a drone (UAV) and an underwater sub (UUV). We were the first team to qualify all three vehicles for the competition.
- 4thoverall at RobotX 2024
- 3rdin Design Documentation, 2024
- Special awardCollaborative Systems Engineering, 2024
One fleet, three domains
In the air, on the water and below it.
Inside each vehicle
How the vehicles talk
Every task depends on communication. We're building a mesh network with more than one link between vehicles, so if one link drops, another can carry the data. This gives the ground station a better picture of what's happening.
- 900 MHz radioThe main link between the boat, drone and ground station.
- WiFi 2.4 + 5 GHzEvery vehicle, mostly for debugging and video.
- Mesh networkBackup paths, so data still gets through if one link drops.
Mechanical
We use several practice platforms to test parts on their own and to train new members on more than one vehicle.
Electrical
We built a status display using voltage divider circuits and LED matrices, so judges and teammates can see what each vehicle is doing during RobotX.
Software
All three vehicles run the same kind of software: ROS 2 packages inside Docker containers. Something we build for one vehicle can be reused on the others with only small changes. That makes us faster, keeps our code consistent and makes it easier to fit everything together.
Team video
The team behind it
22 people. We first competed at RoboSub in 2019, when the team was mostly middle schoolers.
- 1Middle school
- 6High school
- 13College
- 2Industry pros