The RoboBoat competition is an international competition where students design, build, and compete with self-driving robotic boats, in a series of tests aimed at challenging teams through a variety autonomous (self-driving) tasks. We were joined by 18 teams from 3 continents for the RoboBoat 2024 challenge. Our hard work paid off, granting UM::Autonomy as the #1 American Team.

Rising from the ashes of defeat and disorder following the pandemic, UM::Autonomy's 2024 boat, The Phoenix, will soar to competition with renewed pride, a greater sense of togetherness, and a singular focus: to compete hard while having fun. Made entirely out of carbon fiber to reduce weight, the boat features two large thrusters for speed and an Intel i5-12450H CPU to make autonomous decisions.

Understanding the tighter time constraints of the 2024 season, a greater emphasis was placed on design validation and in-water testing, which was facilitated by maintaining an operable vessel and reducing design complexity from last year. This design strategy was complemented with a testing strategy that relocated the team permanently into its testing environment, made testing a weekly process from the start of the season, and allowed for multiple modes of testing to guarantee success.