Our Vision
Developing students on a deeper level
Our goal is to enable students at NTNU to develop themselves both as engineers and team members.
We do this by designing and building both the hardware and software of our own AUV's, ASV's and ROV's, which we then compete with nationally and internationally.
Students joining Vortex are given the tools and training they need to complete the project, and for most, a year at Vortex is a great introduction to working together on a proper engineering project. Our partnerships give companies access to over 50 engaged students with work experience, and the members are given the opportunity to dive into and explore what the maritime industry has to offer.
History
Vortex NTNU was founded in 2015, and competed in its first competition in 2016 at the NASA Neutral Buoyancy Lab. The team had worked very hard up to this, and were very pleased with ending up with a ranking of 16 overall with Maelstrom. In 2017 the team focused on trying to DIY the drone more, creating their own PCBs and thrusters, and the result was Terrapin. In 2018 it was again decided to create a new drone, Manta. This drone got great remarks for its sleek design. The organization decided to change from making ROVs to AUVs, and Manta was converted to an AUV.
In 2021, the team started developing their first AUV from scratch - Beluga. This competed in RoboSub 2021 and TAC 2021, and was further developed by Team 2022.
Beluga Mk2 is now ready to compete in RoboSub 2022 and TAC 2022.
TAC 2021
Competitions
Vortex NTNU originally competed in the MATE ROV competition. This competition focused on giving the organizations practical tasks that it had to solve using their own ROVs. In 2019 it was decided to shift focus from ROVs to AUVs, and the organization would now compete in the RoboSub competition. This is a competition held in San Diego, California, that brings in student organizations from universities across the world. The competition scores your performance based on challenging tasks in the pool, website and a technical design report. The tasks include autonomously navigating through gates, locating a pinger and shooting torpedoes to mention some.
In 2021 we also attended the new competition at TAC (Tau Autonomy Center) near Stavanger. This is a competition for both autonomous and remotely controlled drones, and features tasks that are highly relevant to the maritime industry today.
Vortex NTNU is in 2022 ready to compete in RoboSub and TAC Challenge again.
Read more about our competitions!
A video from TAC Challenge 2021
The Board
The Board is responsible for coordinating the project and securing a sustainable development of the organization. Their involvement ensures close cooperation between the respective group leaders, and the team’s overall progression, budget and well-being