ROBOCADEMY — A European Initial Training Network for underwater robotics

In 2014, funded by the European Commission through the Marie Curie Programme, ten leading European research institutes and companies in underwater robotics formed the ROBOCADEMY Initial Training Network (ITN). The objective of the network is to educate young researchers from Europe and abroad in the development and application of underwater robots. The ROBOCADEMY training programme comprises of scientific as well as soft-skills courses. Hands-on training is provided through integration in interdisciplinary project-teams and secondments to industry. In their PhD research projects, the ROBOCADEMY fellows develop key enabling technologies for the scientific action lines of disturbance rejection, preception and autonomy. The overall scientific goal of the project is to contribute to the next generation of resilient and robust Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). This paper provides a brief introduction and overview in the concept of the ROBOCADEMY training network and the scientific resarch topics addressed.