IIT Bombay's AUV Team Shines at RoboSub 2026, Secures Two Overall Titles
IIT Bombay's AUV team won two overall titles at RoboSub 2026 in California, competing against 58 teams from nine countries.
The Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) team from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay has delivered a standout performance at the RoboSub 2026 international competition, held in Irvine, California. The team clinched first place in the Overall Wildcard Challenge and the Overall Website Evaluation categories.
The 29th edition of the competition took place at the Woollett Aquatics Center from July 11 to 16. It brought together 58 teams representing nine countries, including Bangladesh, Brazil, Canada, India, Mexico, Poland, Singapore, Turkey, and the United States.
RoboSub is designed to present participants with simplified versions of real-world challenges faced by the underwater maritime industry. These tasks often involve oceanographic exploration, object detection and manipulation, and pipeline tracking.
IIT Bombay's team, operating under the banner AUV-IITB, deployed its flagship vehicle, Matsya 7, alongside a new vehicle called Mini Matsya. According to the institute, the two vehicles worked in tandem, allowing the team to execute complex underwater tasks with greater speed and accuracy.
Beyond the two overall wins, the team also finished fifth in the Global Autonomy Challenge, second in the MathWorks Simulation Challenge, and tied for third in Design Documentation. They additionally secured third place for the Technical Design Report.
The National University of Singapore took the top spot in the Design Documentation category, with IIT Bombay placing third in that segment.