If the robot is equipped with appropriate manipulators, then it can easily do anything under water - screw and unscrew, cut and weld, deliver loads down and lift to the surface. Moreover, doing this for hours - he is not afraid high pressures, decompression sickness and hypothermia.

Increasingly, robots are being used for construction, inspection and repair of objects located under water. Such as gas and oil pipelines, underwater cables, oil rigs, dams, bridge supports. Specially created devices are used in the nuclear industry to check and carry out simple work in radioactive water tanks. And, of course, for visual inspection of berth structures and ship bottoms.
In addition, there are international competitions among student teams in underwater robotics, in which the Russian student team has been successfully performing since 2008.

Intro

Annual international student competition in the ROV class

Over the past decade, interest in the development of uninhabited underwater vehicles has grown incomparably throughout the world. This is due to significant technological progress in the field of underwater robotics and a significant expansion of the range of tasks solved using underwater vehicles. Many developed countries, especially those with access to the sea, invest significant financial resources to create their own technical developments in this area.

One of the activities in this direction is the search for new technical solutions and attracting talented youth to this area of ​​knowledge by creating student teams and holding national and international competitions in different classes of underwater vehicles. The goals of the competition are to provide opportunities for talented youth to express themselves, and for professionals to evaluate and pay attention to them.

Swimming pool of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy (USA) - venue for student competitions in the ROV class (2009)

In June 2009, the United States hosted the eighth annual international student competition in the class of remotely operated underwater vehicles - ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle), which are held under the auspices of the international organizations MATE (Marine Advanced Technology Education) and MTS (Marine Technology Society). Initially, the competitions were national, with only teams from the USA participating, but in 2006 they were given international status. Over the next four years, teams from Canada, Pakistan, Scotland, China, Iran, Japan and Russia came to the competition.
Every year the scale of the competition increases; in 2009, the number of teams that took part in the competition (including regional ones) exceeded 300. And these are several thousand active students and schoolchildren from all over the world, passionate about underwater robotics.

Underwater robotics team training

A team of students from Far Eastern State Technical University and Far Eastern State University (IFIT, Department of Underwater Robotics), who had an internship at IPMT (Institute of Marine Technologies, Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences), was organized at the end of 2007. This team was divided into two parts, one of which developed the mechanics of the underwater vehicle, and the second - the electronic software complex. Each direction was supervised by experienced mentors from among IPMT staff and graduate students.

Team members during the design and development of a submersible

Students were given an introductory course on the basic fundamentals of underwater robotics, which included the following questions:
- types of uninhabited underwater vehicles and the structure of their systems;
- hull system and materials used for it, buoyancy control;
- propulsion and steering complex and power supply;
- motion control system and navigation of underwater vehicles;
- measuring sensors and imaging systems in the information-measuring complex of the underwater vehicle.
In June 2008, a combined student team from Vladivostok with a developed remote-controlled vehicle called “Junior” took part for the first time in the international competition “MATE International ROV Competition” (San Diego, USA) and was recognized as the best among beginners, and in overall ranking in the Explorer class took 8th place out of 28 teams.
In June 2009, the student team represented Russia for the second time at the international student competition in underwater robotics “MATE International ROV Competition 2009” (Boston, USA). In total, 28 teams from 5 countries (USA, Canada, UK, China and Russia) took part in the competition. The team participated with the reconstructed Junior submersible and took fourth place.

Team after the announcement of the competition results

Underwater vehicle "Junior"

In the video you can watch the preparations for the championship and the performance itself.

Currently, preparations are underway for the MATE International ROV Competition 2010.
This year, a new device “Junior-2” is being manufactured for participation in the competition. But more on this in other topics.
Unfortunately, the moun team leader is currently very busy preparing for the championship.
But his plans include broadcasting from the competitions themselves.

The XVIII International Spearfishing Competition “Baltic Cup” took place on Lake Kopanskoye near St. Petersburg. About a hundred athletes from Russia, Azerbaijan, Belarus and Estonia took part in them, who spent five hours in the water over two days of competition. Underwater hunting was carried out for pike, perch, carp and eel.

Athletes from St. Petersburg - Viktor Shevtsov, Oleg Bestuzhev and Alexey Shelagin - were recognized as the best anglers in the individual competition. The team from the Northern capital also won in the team competition. Belarusian fishermen took second place, and Estonian fishermen took third place.

Belarusian athlete Andrei Kozlov set a competition record - he caught an eel that weighed more than two kilograms.

Underwater orienteering competitions were held in the Smolensk region

Five regions and more than forty participants - this is the composition of contenders for victory in the Cup and Championship of Russia in underwater orienteering. Among the teams are Novosibirsk, Voronezh and Smolensk. These cities are traditionally considered centers for the development of a prestigious and difficult sport. For Smolensk residents, these competitions are a kind of run-in for young athletes before more difficult starts.

Yuri Samsonov, chairman of the DOSAAF branch in the Smolensk region: “We know that our athletes are quite experienced, they have won prizes in both the Russian Cup and the World Cup.”

Visibility is about one meter, the tasks are identical. For example, in one of the disciplines an athlete needs to go through five checkpoints underwater with a change in route. The backbone of the Smolensk team consists of experienced swimmers.

Andrey Korman, winner of the World Cup in underwater orienteering: “In our sport there is a share of luck and bad luck. But we expect to be in the top three, and in some disciplines we can take prizes.”

As a result of the four-day competition, athletes from Novosibirsk became the winners in the team competition, the team from Voronezh was in second place, and swimmers from Balakovo completed the top three. Smolyan took second place in the relay.

International seminar of instructors of the World Confederation of Underwater Activities on working with disabled divers

In accordance with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the Russian Government has adopted the state program “Accessible Environment”, aimed at creating equal opportunities for people with disabilities in all spheres of society.

As part of this program, the Confederation of Underwater Activities of Russia (KDRA), the diving club "Aqua-Globus" (Anapa) and the magazine "Invertum" established the Fund for Assistance in the Implementation of the State Program "Accessible Environment" (abbreviated as the "Accessible Environment" Fund).

The first step in the fund’s activities was an international seminar held under the auspices and according to the standards of the World Confederation of Underwater Activities (CMAS), on the Russian Black Sea coast in the resort city of Anapa. Representatives of the CPDR and IAHD Adriatic (Slovenia) took part in the seminar.

The seminar was led by a specialist in training instructors for working with disabled divers, Mr. Branko Ravnak, with the assistance of Mr. Damjan Peklar, the first CMAS wheelchair instructor. Both specialists are from Slovenia.

The seminar was attended by 11 scuba diving instructors from Anapa, Voronezh, Moscow, Nizhny Novgorod, St. Petersburg, and Tuapse.

KDDR and IAHD Adriatic (Slovenia) intend to continue this noble activity with the goal of making the underwater world an accessible environment for people with disabilities. disabilities health for those who want to go diving.

09/23/2009 | Moscow Mayor's Spearfishing Cup

On September 18, the capital hosted an underwater hunting competition for the Moscow Mayor's Cup. The event has already become traditional - it is being held for the 4th time, the catch is increasing every year, the hunters are catching larger and larger fish; as a result of the competition, friendship won, all the guests were fed fish soup, the audience award was won by the Moscow government team

. On the other side of the river, the Mayor's Spearfishing Cup was taking place. This tournament is held with the support of the Department of Environmental Management and Protection environment for the fourth time already. Athletes from all over Russia gathered in Stroginsky Zaton to compete for championship in individual and team competitions. Personally, I never participate in such competitions, although registration of participants for them is always free, any trick can happen at the start.

Why don't I participate? Yes, because I really don’t like the traditional Moscow fuss about every occasion. PR campaigns of the Moscow government, of course, are useful for the Moscow government and sponsors, but in all other respects it is nothing more than a far-fetched campaign, like the recent “Car Free Day”, on which, according to Yandex traffic jams, there were much more traffic jams than on a normal day, amounting to a total record length of traffic jams of 350 km. The undoubted success of Moscow officials, there is room for improvement in the results. And the fact that the deputies were shown on TV in the subway was useful for the deputies. But their drivers still drove to work on their own, which did not reduce the number of cars, but increased the number of people in the metro. Traditional Moscow circus on the black and white boulevard.

Nevertheless, let's return to the precedent. The competitions were traditionally held on a festive scale. The organizers prepared a sports and entertainment program for the fans: competitions in darts, mini-golf, tug-of-war, shooting in a laser range, as well as competitions in cooking fish soup in the fresh air. The fish soup was prepared from imported fish, mainly salmon and sterlet (last time Makarevich risked boiling the fish that had been shot, everyone unanimously praised it, but it was completely impossible to eat, and even harmful, explanations below).

As the organizers note, such competitions fulfill an important task - they attract public attention to preserving the ecology of Moscow’s reservoirs, and prove that there are still places in the capital where you can really go fishing. Of course, if city residents are more careful about maintaining cleanliness in coastal areas, there will only be more fish. By the way, the divers themselves, at the end of the hunt, cleaned the bottom of the backwater of debris. Well, below I will show the real results of my personal monitoring in Strogino on this day, and together we will evaluate them based on real facts, and not on two pot lids taken out by “tricks” under television cameras.

The ceremony of awarding the winners was attended by the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Committee on physical culture and sports Dmitry Svishchev.

“Today the Moscow City Hall has prepared a real holiday for lovers of spearfishing. Traditionally, these competitions bring together not only athletes from all over the country, but also environmentalists, public figures, and simply lovers of the passion of hunting. It is very important that in this way the Moscow Government draws the attention of Muscovites and guests of the capital to the conservation of biological resources of Moscow reservoirs.

Officials of the Department of Natural Resources will also make sure that there is enough fish for next year - today they will release young Oka sterlet into the Stroginsky backwater. In addition, the holiday will kick off the environmental campaign “Clean City - Bright Future” to clean up the water and coastal area of ​​the Stroginsky backwater. “Not only divers will take part in this event, but also children - participants in the Olympic Hopes children’s and youth games in the north-west of the capital,” noted the State Duma deputy.

As the TVC channel reported: The only thing that the spectators who came to cheer for the participants in these competitions regretted was that they could not see the process itself. How the hunt took place under water remained a mystery, which the hunters brought with them to the shore. (PS: there’s no secret here, you’ll admire it below). All that remained was to listen to the stories, take their word for it and evaluate their catch. Roman hunts underwater for the first time in Moscow. He says that he himself did not expect such luck - he was counting on a small roach, but he shot 3-kilogram pike perch.

Roman Kapleev, competition participant:
- The main difficulty in this whole matter, well, in relation to pike perch, is the depth, he loves depth, that is, you also need to be able to dive deep. As for pike perch, this is, in principle, a worthy trophy.

Shows. Three pike perch, but big ones. And Alexander’s catch from Yaroslavl is 5 fish, but small. But 5.

Alexander Sysoev, competition participant:
- I finally saw a carp, about 7 kilograms, but missed.

Victoria Soboleva, competition organizer:
- For the mayor’s birthday, we not only catch fish and show that in our reservoirs there are fish that do not have two heads. We clean up the pond after ourselves, our divers collect garbage, our children clean up the entire coastal area. And we, together with the Department of Natural Resources, release sterlet annually.

And here the divers have returned after cleaning the bottom - showing off their catch. Car tires, Cell phones, old tape recorder. But in general they say that the situation in the underwater world of the Stroginsky backwater is not bad. We saw crayfish. And they settle only in places where pure water.

The motto of the competition was the words: “For all generations - sport with a mood.” So, for the mood, the entire catch went to fish soup, which was cooked right there. Moreover, they organized a competition among 4 teams for best recipe.

Famous athletes, politicians, and artists demonstrated their culinary skills, dividing responsibilities according to their skills. Valery Syutkin, for example, was a fireman.

Actually, I don't cook well. I reheat great. I have no equal in this.

And although friendship won as a result, and all the guests were fed fish soup, the audience award was won by the Moscow government team. For the originality of the recipe - according to it, the fish soup was cooked with a wooden ax and real bast shoes. The culmination of the holiday was the awarding of hunters. The winner was determined by the weight of the fish caught. It was Andrey Kosenkov from Moscow.

Andrey Kosenkov, competition winner:
- There was a pike, a silver carp, 3 bream and a pike perch.

The weight of the entire catch was about 10 kilograms. And this is a new record for these competitions.

By the way
Last year, a sterlet, already grown to 200 grams, was released into the Strogino floodplain. The action was carried out by the capital's Department of Natural Resources together with the Moscow government. I dare say that sterlet has taken root in Moscow. Recent dives positive results. Just catching it with a fishing rod, much less shooting it with an underwater gun, is still prohibited. The fine for one tail is from 2 to 4 thousand rubles, depending on the weight.

Well, now let's talk about this from a slightly different point of view:

Spearfishing propaganda is a good and useful thing. PR for the Sargan equipment (manufactured at a Maltese enterprise), which is owned by the captain of the Russian underwater hunting team, Mr. Antonov, is also a useful thing for him, as is the advertising of Andrei Makarevich's Bathyscaphe. Syutkin also needs the reputation of a campfire party person, no one doubts it. And all this fun is only to the advantage of Mr. Luzhkov and the Moscow “environmental protection” department. But why lie about it everywhere? This is not a competition, this is a Marlezon ballet like “A Day Without a Car.” Money down the drain. But the private interests that can only be traced here are financed from the government budget. How much money was spent on advertising and all this action for the sake of self-PR for the apparatus and individuals? A lot of.

Strogino is a picturesque place, and it is not for nothing that it has been declared a protected area. You can and should relax here. But is everything here as great and getting better day by day, as the Moscow Government Department reports?

Let's go underwater and see for ourselves. No, we will not photograph “underwater” car tires and metal rubble. We will simply look at the trends in the impact of the department’s activities on Moscow ecology. What now? A Moscow party with the participation of the government gathered on the opposite bank. We dive on the “ecologically clean” opposite, reserved.

Let's look for something more interesting than fish soup for a party made from imported fish. You don’t have to search for long; all the pictures were taken within a radius of 10 meters from the dive site. An unpleasant sight - a dead rat, a dead rudd. But, after all, the wind is not surf, there is practically none at all. Calm.

We put on our equipment and dive. The main thing is not to swallow this water to avoid problems. It is not for nothing that fish soup for a narrow circle of limited people is prepared from imported fish.

There is a dead toad at the water's edge. Here is a dead crayfish at the 2-meter mark.

Oops. Right at the water's edge, at 3 meters, a decent bull sits and does not run away. Just what is this? His eyes are completely white. He's just blind, that's why he lets you get so close. Eyesores in fish are formed mainly due to the effects of chemicals on the vitreous body.

And it is very strange that all this is located on the eastern bank right next to the Zamoskvorechye base, which, for a completely incomprehensible reason, lives peacefully in a protected area, although it is a huge territory fenced off with new thorns on which a dozen collapsed sheds are located. In front, of course, the Moscow “environmental protection” department has put out Potemkin feeders for squirrels (who for some reason don’t eat anything at all from what is put in their feeders, maybe because they simply aren’t here anymore?), but in the back.

Behind the gate, the base employees simply dump their garbage on the territory of the reserve, not bothering to remove the waste at all. They drank vodka noisily with the inspectors, and left behind the gate. Or here is a windbreak, marked for cutting with a cross “under the Germans.” All the color has already been washed away by time, but the windbreaker is still alive. But, according to reports, he has been gone for a long time. Apparently, the base located close by has not yet run out of wood for the barbecue, and there is no point for inspectors to go around the base. “And under every bush there was a table and a house ready for her.” There is Sabantuy on the other side, and everything is fine, beautiful marquise. The holiday was a success. I can post about 20 more photos for the same holiday date. But why? The plan of the government and private individuals has been fulfilled, there are no comments, hurray. Okay, enough about the sad stuff.

Fishermen here catch fish everywhere, and even professionally. But what do they do with it then? I wouldn’t even feed a cat such a catch, let alone eat it myself. That’s why officials prepare their own ceremonial fish soup from imported salmon and sterlet.

The ducks here, of course, feed, but the reflections on the water are somehow too rainbow-colored, obviously with a hint of fuel and lubricants.

No, Strogino is not completely dying out yet, and the remnants of Moscow nature still have reserves. However, the bell is ringing too loudly today, drowned out by the Potemkin "mayor's cups." Apparently, the confrontation with the feds requires victories. Well, then compete with real achievements and not with PR campaigns.

Otherwise, in Strogino “on the cape” there are dozens of tricksters and fishermen wandering around. I'm not sure if anyone will eat something, what are we going to do? We are not America, no one will file a lawsuit? Don't tell me, sir.

Not only hard workers with fishing rods relax in Strogino; swimmers here have to dodge private steamers every 20 minutes, or do we hope that they are not so stupid and will not eat the catch?

Well, what about conscience? It doesn’t hurt when an official publicly lies on air about the environment, but opposite side Dead representatives of all types of hydrobionts are floating, and pseudo-recreation centers, legalized by unknown rights, are openly crap in the only large Moscow water reserve?

Of course, nature didn’t experience such things, but why lie? Not Soviet times, there will be someone to tell the truth. The reservoir is, of course, alive, but it has big problems, and there is no point in making a show of it.

But in such a water area with the participation of so many professionals, collecting so many “trophies” is, excuse me, a laughing stock. Although, there are enough little things here. But these are mainly gobies and small perch. This is bad.

The number of algae species in Strogino is quite sufficient, and their condition is satisfactory. One can hope that the reservoir itself will cope with the situation from the point of view of flora. But the fauna frankly gave up.

Of course, juvenile places, such as these tree debris with an overgrown sponge, seem to be in perfect order, but only by the fact of their presence. Their population is not at all pleasing with the abundance of species and their list. Their composition should be different.

Therefore, I would like to say to the organizers of the "Moscow Mayor's Spearfishing Cup": Gentlemen, maybe stop shaking your pitiful belongings? The king is naked. Hold a competition, well, talk about the real state of affairs in this respected form, solve its problems, restore the environment on which you depend. And then all the “riders”, show-pop, and self-promoters. Either “Day Without a Car” or “Mayor's Cup for Spearfishing” - just chatter at intervals of two days, and all for show, but to no avail... But for money. For budget money. Where is conscience?

The first rays of the spring sun are picking out the first thawed patches in the snow, the first birds are returning to their native lands. And on the first of April we hold traditional, but for many children the first in their lives, underwater sports competitions in our Club. The faces, a little constrained in the first minutes, light up with bright smiles, and the tension disappears by itself.

There are no losers here, there are only winners - “Future Conquerors of the Universe 2018”. Yes, now they are still only children, but it is in childhood that the desire for self-improvement and victory is laid in us - first of all over ourselves! Who, if not these clear-eyed kids, will represent our country in international competitions in underwater sports in a decade and a half? Helping them move towards their cherished goal is our primary task!

Our senior comrade and long-time friend, the Aqua Sphere company, actively provides special assistance and support to children's underwater sports in Moscow. Many guys have already appreciated the excellent quality of swimming goggles and other sports goods from this company.

And the athletes fought for medals! We fought with dignity, putting aside fears and laziness! Yes, not everyone managed to get on the podium this time, but those who achieved it set the bar for everyone else.

Only at such competitions can all the guys in the club try their hand and identify gaps in their training. This is where the turn let us down, and here there are problems with the start and stroke. This means that it is now clear what we need to pay extra attention to during training.

But, despite the fact that not all children received medals of the highest standard, everyone received memorable prizes and gifts. After all, participating in such competitions is already work, and the work is far from easy! So everyone should definitely be encouraged. There are, of course, those who suddenly fell ill just before the competition, or suddenly a lot of urgent matters arose on the way to victory. But they don’t sing about such “illness” and “business” here, because there is nothing to do.

But all those who came to the competition deserve only the highest praise! Guys, you are the Future Conquerors of the Universe, and there is no irony here!

Coach of the scuba diving club "Kosatka" (Moscow),
Denis Obukhov