IJCAI 2026 · Showcase Event
The Underwater Robotics AI Challenge
18 August 2026 · DFKI Maritime Exploration Hall, Bremen
The Showcase Event is part of the Underwater Robotics AI challenge.
The Challenge
This challenge offers participants the opportunity to exchange latest research ideas in AI-based marine robotics, present their systems to a broad public as part of a competition, and to demonstrate what is already possible in the field of underwater AI.
The event will bring together researchers, industry professionals, start-ups, and students to explore the intersection of artificial intelligence and marine robotics. It will feature a robotics challenge in a test-basin environment aimed at early-stage researchers and companies as an in-water showcase. In addition, an industry exhibition will present cutting-edge technologies through robotic systems and posters.
The overall goal is to promote the development and evaluation of AI-driven methods for autonomous underwater systems in realistic environments.
Underwater robotics poses major challenges for AI, including limited sensing, restricted communication, uncertain and dynamic environments, and strong data scarcity. Addressing these issues requires advances in perception, learning-based control, decision making, and robust autonomy.
By combining competition, exhibition, and research exchange, the event creates a unique platform that connects theoretical AI research with real-world robotic systems.
The event will strengthen the interaction between the AI research community and industrial stakeholders, while highlighting marine robotics as an important and demanding application domain for future AI research.
Tentative Agenda
- 8:00–9:00 a.m. — Arrival & technical check
- Registration
- Setup / final tests
- Safety briefing for teams
Opening — DFKI-RIC Foyer
9:00–9:30 a.m. — Official opening Student Competition and Industry Showcase
- Welcome
- Introduction of the jury
- Procedure & safety rules
- Brief introduction of all teams (max. 1 slide / 60 seconds)
Student competition & Industry Showcase
9:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. — Qualifying rounds
- Disciplines:
- Obstacle course
- Object inspection
- Object manipulation
12:30–1:30 p.m. — Lunch break
- Companies can present themselves
- Students and companies: exchange / contact
1:30–3:00 p.m. — Final round
3:00–4:30 p.m. — Live demos by companies & RIC
- Demonstrate performance
- Present future technologies
4:30–5:00 p.m. — Coffee break
- Networking
5:00–5:30 p.m. — Award ceremony & closing
Challenge Rules
Within the competition, teams will compete to design and program AI-controlled underwater robots that will perform a range of tasks in the big underwater basin at DFKI-RIC. The basin has the dimensions 23m x 19m x 8m and is filled with 1% salt water. The following tasks are to be executed in no particular order:
- navigation through a simple obstacle course, consisting of two gates. Position of the gates has to be detected, it will be changed from the training dataset. The gates consist of ropes attached to a weight at the bottom and two orange/yellow buoys at the top. The orange gate has to be traversed before the yellow gate.
- object detection & inspection: There is an are in the underwater basin with a number of objects on a sandy floor surrounded by black tiles (and visual markers). One of the objects has to be detected and visually inspected.
- object manipulation: at a random position in the basin a shackle is placed on the ground with a short rope and a yellow buoy attached. This object has to be picked up and returned to the surface.
- Freestyle (team can decide the task): anything which the robot is capable of can be shown as additional task.
Obstacle Course
Navigate the vehicle through a course of underwater gates.
Object Inspection
Detect and inspect a designated target object.
Object Manipulation
Retrieve a shackle attached to a buoy.
Freestyle
Free demonstration of your system’s capabilities.
All systems: max. 20 kg · hand-deployable · AUV & ROV accepted · test basin 23 × 19 × 8 mOnly hands-free operation will be permitted for the obstacle course – no human remote operation will be allowed.
Due to popular request remote controlled operation will be permitted as well!
Training Dataset
The video above shows the training dataset for the competition. It shows the vehicle (BlueROV2) performing the following tasks:
- Diving, finding the two gates, traversing them in order (first orange gate, then yellow gate)
- Inspecting the UXO in the middle of the basin
- locating and retrieving the object (weight with buoy), returning it to the surface
Organizing Committee
Frank Kirchner
DFKI-RIC & University of Bremen
Marc Hildebrandt
DFKI-RIC
Bilal Wehbe
DFKI-RIC
Organizing Institutions
Funded by BMFTR (01IW22003)
