In August 2024, the 13th National Competition for Design and Production of Marine Vehicles was successfully held. Jointly sponsored by the China Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers (CSNAME) and the China Institute of Navigation (CIN), it is the largest, highest-level, and most influential national scientific and technological innovation competition for university students in China's marine engineering and shipbuilding sector. The competition has been included in the National College Student Competition List for Regular Higher Education Institutions issued by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China, and serves as the core benchmark platform for the cultivation of sci-tech innovation talents, technological advancement, and achievement exhibition for universities in China's marine field.For this edition, the competition set up multiple special tracks focusing on core areas including intelligent marine vehicle design, underwater robotics technology, marine new energy equipment, and marine exploration and operation systems. It attracted more than 2,500 teams and over 10,000 teachers and students from nearly 400 universities and research institutions nationwide to register for participation. After multiple rounds of screening through university-level trials and regional sub-competitions, nearly 1,000 high-level teams advanced to the national finals.
After several days of on-site work exhibition, technical principle defense, physical prototype function demonstration, and rigorous selection by the competition jury, only dozens of the highest-level Grand Prizes (the top award of the competition) were awarded in the national finals. The winning rate of the Grand Prize was less than 5% of the finalist teams, reflecting extremely fierce competition.The participating team in this track entered the competition with an independently developed innovative intelligent marine vehicle. Targeting core industry pain points of marine vehicles in complex marine environments, including autonomous navigation, environmental adaptation, and precise operation, the work proposed a brand-new technical solution and optimization path. The team fully completed the principle design, core algorithm R&D, prototype fabrication and manufacturing, as well as testing and verification in real marine environments. Its technological advancement, engineering practicability and innovative value won unanimous high recognition from the expert review panel, and the team finally successfully claimed the Grand Prize of the competition.
