logo




Blog

Congratulations to UF’s NaviGator AMS team, winner of the 2016 Maritime RobotX Challenge (www.RobotX.org) in Hawaii. See www.NaviGatorUF.org and www.twitter.com/NaviGatorUF for more info.

UF’s Team NaviGator AMS, winner of the 2016 Maritime RobotX Challenge in Oahu, Hawaii

2015 FRC Orlando, Go Roaring Riptides!

Mar 15, 2015
Comments are off
We took the boat with us to the 2015 Orlando First Robotics Competition.  Matt and I drove the boat and sub down south to show off some of our lab’s projects to the public.  Of all the public outreach events we’ve ever done, FRC Orlando got us the most visibility.  Matt and I must have talked to hundreds people (both of our voices were hoarse at the end of the day). Dan and Dr. Crane sponsor P. K. Younge team 4118 the Roaring Riptides.  So of course we were biased in who we wanted to
Continue Reading →

Propagator Testing – Graham Pool

Feb 16, 2015
Comments are off
The much awaited first in-water test of this semester took place on Sunday, February 15th, at the Graham Pool. With the prime focus on Propagator software, the controller on the boat was tested. From starboard side leaks to ESC programming and reprogramming, lidar servo troubleshooting and GPS , we saw and overcame a handful of such issues while testing in water. It was a little windy which caused the boat to drift. Testing the software, we saw that the current holonomic controller faced several
Continue Reading →

Fluid dynamic bearing research

Feb 11, 2015
Comments are off
We’ve been doing some research on fluid dynamic bearings for our new thrusters.  One of our team members found a really cool video demonstrating how a spinning shaft can create pressure to allow the shaft to “float on air”.  This is a key principle in our next thruster design.  Using water instead of air, we plan on “levitating” our propeller thus eliminating the need for bearings.
Continue Reading →

SeaPerch kits complete!

Feb 10, 2015
Comments are off
The Oklahoma tribe completed their SeaPerch kits this week.  They’re expecting to compete with other schools in the next few months.                
Continue Reading →

FLL Navajo Nation

Feb 05, 2015
Comments are off
In an effort to increase interest in S.T.E.M. related fields among Native youth, Team PropaGator helped start two FIRST Lego League (FLL) robotics team on the Navajo Nation in Arizona. On November 15th 2014, one of those teams, “Electro Mutton Nation,” traveled two hours to compete in the Winslow High School FLL Qualifying Tournament. Their robot’s first run did not go well, but they stayed positive and were rewarded because their robot’s performance got better and better
Continue Reading →

Boat Maintenance

Jan 30, 2015
Comments are off
After several collisions with the shore, we noticed that the aluminum propeller frames were slightly bent. The team did some research and found that if we used a different grade of aluminum, we could make the frame more rigid. After using a water jetting machine to cut the new aluminum, we spent the morning replacing the 6061 aluminum with the new 7075 parts. As preventative maintenance, we also replaced the 6 bearings on each thruster.
Continue Reading →

PropaGator Team Member Recognized in CPN Website

Jan 12, 2015
Comments are off
Due to the outreach that Team PropaGator was performing on the Navajo Nation in AZ, they were awarded five SeaPerch (robot submarine) kits at AUVSI’s 7th Annual RoboBoat Competition last July. The team decided to use these kits to further expand their S.T.E.M. outreach to Native students by donating them to Citizen Potawatomi Nation in Oklahoma.  The tribe just received the kits and judging by the smiles on their students’ faces, we think that they’ve found a good home: http://
Continue Reading →

PropaGator Showcased on UF’s Home Page!

Jan 05, 2015
Comments are off
Earlier this week, our boat was featured on the University of Florida home page!  We’re honored to bring recognition to our supporting departments and advisers.
Continue Reading →

FAV Summit 2014

Dec 15, 2014
Comments are off
We were invited to the Florida Autonomous Vehicles (2014) Summit 2014 during Christmas break.  FAV 2014 was an attempt by the Florida Department of Transportation to spread knowledge about autonomous vehicles and what the state of Florida is capable of producing: “Florida DOT is blazing the trail for the integration of automated vehicles into existing traffic operations and leading by example with pilot projects, research projects, and open dialogue to ensure that Florida serves as a ferti
Continue Reading →

About Us

Winner of the 2013 RoboBoat competition, PropaGator is an autonomous surface vehicle designed and built by students at the Machine Intelligence Lab (MIL) at the University of Florida. This is the third year the University of Florida has participated in the Association for Unmanned Vehicles Systems International (AUVSI) Foundation’s surface vehicle competition. The PropaGator team is comprised of graduate and undergraduate students of the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, and the Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering.

Formal weekly meetings are over for the summer. Interested students are welcome to stop by during normal working hours or whenever the door is open.

Recent Posts Widget

RoboBoat 2017
Jan 13, 2017
UF recognized for outreach
Jul 14, 2015
Testing the new version of Solid Works
Jun 09, 2015
First day in Lake Alice
Jun 04, 2015

AUVSI RoboBoat 2017

2094
Days
23
Hours
18
Mins
22
Secs

Follow Us!


Machine Intelligence Laboratory | University of Florida
Login