On August 13, the 4th World University Underwater Robot Competition concluded at the South China Sea Research Institute of Harbin Engineering University (HEU).
The competition featured three categories: AUV (Autonomous Underwater Vehicle), ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle), and Creative Concept. After two days of intense competition, HEU lived up to expectations. The “Stellar Soul” and “Soaring Ambition” teams from the E-Wei Association won the championships in the AUV and ROV categories respectively, while the “Shihang Intelligence” team secured second place in the ROV category. Following consecutive championships at the International Underwater Robot Competition in 2018 and 2019, the HEU E-Wei Association science and innovation team has now successfully defended their titles at the World University Underwater Robot Competition in both 2024 and 2025, achieving consecutive victories in this new iteration of the event.
GAO Yan, Secretary of the Party Committee of HEU, delivered a speech outlining the university’s history and its distinctive focus on “SMON” (shipbuilding industry, marine equipment, ocean exploration, and nuclear energy application) fields in its educational approach. He stated that since its inception, the World University Underwater Robot Competition has consistently adhered to the purpose of stimulating innovative talent cultivation and promoting international youth exchange. It has successfully established an international platform for exchange in the field of underwater intelligent equipment and has developed into a globally influential competition brand.
WANG Junli, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers, stated in his speech that while continuing the tradition of high technical standards and challenging tasks, this year’s competition placed greater emphasis on competition in system coordination, precise control, and adaptability to extreme environments within marine exploration engineering scenarios. He expressed hope that this competition would effectively promote idea exchange and technical interaction between Chinese and international youth in the field of marine intelligent equipment, providing a broad stage for global university students to practice their knowledge and pioneer the future.
CHEN Yunhui, Deputy Secretary-General of the Sanya Municipal People’s Government, expressed in his speech the hope that this competition would further ignite the passion for scientific and technological innovation among the younger generation, cultivate more top talents in marine technology, advance breakthroughs in underwater robotics technology, and inject new momentum into the global development of marine endeavors.
Mikhnyaev Andrey, Senior Lecturer at Brest State Technical University, expressed gratitude in his speech to HEU for designing competition tasks that were more engaging and challenging, thereby creating a platform for talented young people worldwide to gather, exchange ideas, forge friendships, and fully demonstrate their capabilities. He pointed out that as the backbone of the future, young participants achieve self-improvement through the competition, which will contribute to their personal growth and the development of humanity’s shared future.
The competition focuses on industry demands in the maritime and marine sectors and the forefront of underwater intelligent equipment. By simulating practical scenarios such as underwater pipeline inspection and environmental sample collection, it emphasizes testing capabilities in underwater detection, intelligent control, and autonomous decision-making of robots, thereby propelling the innovation and development of underwater intelligent sensing and navigation technologies.
