For second year, underwater vehicle team takes top prize

The 2010 CUAUV team after their win in San Diego, July 18.

For the second year in a row, the Cornell Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (CUAUV) team took top honors at an international competition.

Erin Fischell '10 checks Tachyon from the dock at the compeition.

The team's vehicle, Tachyon, beat out 23 other teams from five countries at the 13th annual Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International competition held July 13-18 in San Diego, Calif. With the win, Cornell took home a $6,000 prize.

The competition required the autonomous submarine to hit a targeted buoy, send torpedoes into specific windows and drop markers in bins. According to the team website, they hit a technical glitch with their hydrophone system, but their otherwise superior performance still earned them first place.

A webcast of the team's run can be found on http://www.Robosub.org and details about the team's work at http://cuauv.ece.cornell.edu/.