A small-sized autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) independently developed and built by CAS researchers has been designated as an underwater guard for the forthcoming Olympic Game in 2008. They have recently been asked by the Olympic Sub-committee of Sailing to a component of the "underwater safety alert system" of the competition.
The robots have done a good job in the recent international sailing regatta held in the past August and September in Qingdao, the host city for the Sailing Regatta in the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. They will also provide service for the sailing tournament there in 2007.
A brainchild of engineers from SIA and the CAS Institute of Acoustics, the robot could identify, via light fibers, underwater objects of suspicion in a high risky environment. In addition, it is expected to find wide applications in harbor course protection and offshore oil drilling platforms.