“Breaking the Surface” — International interdisciplinary field-training for experts, end-users and students

The international interdisciplinary field training of marine robotics and applications 'Breaking the Surface BtS started in 2009 as one of the two flagship dissemination activities of the EU-funded FP7 Capacities REGPOT-2008-1 project `De-veloping the Croatian Underwater Robotics Research Potential - CURE'. Three BtS field-trainings were organized as CURE activities (BtS2009, BtS2010 and BtS2011). The first BtS2009 consisted of only three program tracks: marine robotics (MAROB), marine biology (MARBIO) and maritime archaeology (MARCH). From 2012 until 2014 the BtS was supported by the Office of Naval Research Global (ONRG) and under auspices of the President of the Republic of Croatia. The content and scope changed over the years. Today we can affirm that the BtS became a brand with high appreciation among all those that participated. Visibility of this event improved over the years and number of participants, especially students, increased each year.