Low cost Autonomous underwater vehicle

We designed and developed a low-cost Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) to represent our university for the very first time in an international competition abroad—the prestigious Singapore AUV Challenge. This was a pioneering effort, as no such project had ever been undertaken at our university before. Despite limited resources, our team successfully built a fully functional AUV capable of both tethered and untethered navigation, using computer vision to identify and interpret visual markers underwater.

My role as the electrical lead involved end-to-end design and integration of the vehicle’s electrical systems, including power management, sensor interfacing, and control circuitry. I collaborated with cross-functional teams to ensure tight integration of hardware and software in a modular, reliable architecture.

This project not only demonstrated the feasibility of creating high-performing autonomous systems on a constrained budget but also marked a significant milestone for our institution in innovation and international representation. It opened doors for future research and development in underwater robotics and inspired a new wave of student-led engineering initiatives.