Industry and Technology Minister Mustafa Varank followed the Unmanned Underwater Systems Competition organized by ASELSAN as part of the TEKNOFEST Aviation, Space and Technology festival. He visited the teams participating in the competition held at the ITU Olympic Swimming Pool one by one and received information from the competitors. He used some developed underwater vehicles.
Visit to Minister Varank; Mehmet Fatih Kacır, Deputy Minister of Industry and Technology, and Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Rector Prof. Dr. İsmail Koyuncu accompanied him.
Minister Varank, in his statement during his visit, stated that TEKNOFEST continues with technology competitions and said, “We say that September is the month of technology. We are really pleased that TEKNOFEST brought TEKNOFEST to Turkey throughout September, with technology competitions as well as aviation shows to be held at Istanbul Atatürk Airport on September 21-26, technology shows, and exhibits of our domestic and national products.” he said.
Noting that the young people participating in the competition from all over Turkey compete with the underwater vehicles they designed, Varank said, “They have quite difficult tasks. After manual tasks, these vehicles must autonomously leave the underwater vehicles in the water and pass through the castle placed in the water on their own. We're talking about a really challenging and cutting-edge field for high school students.” he said.
Noting that the number of teams participating in the competition increases every year, Minister Varank said, “We can see that the teams that have been coming to the competition for a few years have improved themselves. We call it future technologies. Underwater systems are very important for the 'Blue Homeland'. Currently, both our oil and gas exploration vessels and our drilling vessels actually use underwater systems. If you want to remove the gas with underwater systems, you also need this type of autonomous vehicles. You need this type of unmanned underwater systems, robot systems.” used his statements.
Stating that the drilling vessels are currently using underwater systems developed by domestic companies, Varank said, “Besides, they also use systems imported from abroad. Together with the abilities of our young people here, we can develop all of the robotic systems used by our underwater drilling ships locally and nationally. Our youth, engineers and companies have these abilities. Hopefully, we will hand over our Blue Homeland to them. They will also serve this country in the best possible way.” he said.
The Unmanned Underwater Systems Competition aims to produce and develop remote-controlled or autonomous underwater vehicles designed by young people. Among the 371 teams that applied, 56 teams that were entitled to participate in the competition are fighting for the championship.
In the competition, where scoring and evaluation are carried out differently in each category, the first prize will be worth 35 thousand TL, the second prize will be 25 thousand TL, and the third prize will be 15 thousand TL for the teams ranked in the "Basic Category". In the “Advanced Category”, the first prize will be 50 thousand TL, the second prize will be 40 thousand TL, and the third prize will be 30 thousand TL.
The teams that aim to complete their duties undertaken in the competition area and their business plans in the field in the best way will be awarded the "Best Team Award".
The "Most Original Design Award" will be given to the teams by considering the criteria of conformity to design conditions, originality and evaluation according to underwater and all sub-systems. Domestic and original products compatible with the latest high technology will win the "Most Original Software Award".
The struggle of underwater robots, which can perform various multi-functional tasks autonomously with artificial intelligence, will continue until September 19. The winning teams will receive their awards at TEKNOFEST, which will be held at Istanbul Atatürk Airport between September 21-26.
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