Institute in the USA joins INESC TEC for the use of algorithms in autonomous vehicles

Nuno Cruz, a Research Coordinator of INESC TEC’s Centre for Robotics and Autonomous Systems (CRAS) was present at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI), in Monterey, California, one of the most prestigious institutions of research and development in science and technology for the marine environment in the world.

Throughout the two weeks between 8 and 19 July, this initiative was held under a collaboration with the project entitled “Autonomous Vehicle Adaptive Front Tracking at Optimized Crossing Angles”. According to Nuno Cruz, “it’s a collaboration agreement for the application of algorithms in MBARI’s autonomous vehicles, which were initially developed for INESC TEC’s vehicles. At an initial stage, they are being implemented in a vehicle known as “Wave Glider” for the detection and tracking of oceanographic fronts, particularly coastal upwelling ones that are common in the Monterey Bay (which is where MBARI is located)”. Nuno Cruz was the one responsible for the publication of a work, in which he presented this method that allows an AUV to be able to autonomously track the orientation of fronts in the ocean and to follow them during their journey.

This initiative also allowed to promote other areas developed by INESC TEC, since it opened new opportunities of participating in lectures, visits to laboratories and also tests developed by MBARI in the projects in which it's involved. A prominent example was the lecture presented by Nuno Cruz entitled Innovation in Marine Robotics - Building on the Latest Achievements to Address New Challenges”, which took place on 15 July. 

The researcher mentioned in this news piece is associated with UP-FEUP.