Sponsored by UV printing specialist Pigment Reklam, Istanbul Technical University (ITU) Autobee project team won the first place in the Njord Autonomus Ship Challenge, leaving its strong rivals behind. NTNU, one of the most advanced universities in the world, hosted the competition on marine technologies held in Trondheim, Norway on August 14-18. In the Niord Autonomus Ship Challenge, the first international autonomous competition organised by students, teams from Türkiye as well as prestigious universities in the USA, Portugal, India, Scotland and Norway competed.
Emir Sağlam, Co-Captain of ITU Autobee Team, explained how they won the first place in Njord, the only autonomous boat competition in Europe, by successfully completing three tasks; “The competition consists of 3 main tasks: finding a route, docking and avoiding an accident. In the first task, we had to follow the path indicated by the pontoons and draw a route in accordance with the shipping rules. In the second task, unfortunately, due to the severe storm, we could not successfully dock. In the last task, we were expected to successfully escape from the accident by following the shipping rules in different scenarios. We were awarded the first place by achieving successful results in two of these three categories.”
The champion in Njord is vesselbee02
Emir Sağlam explained that the Autobee project team, which consists of students from different departments at ITU, has had experience in autonomous vehicles in air and land since 2016, and reminded that they came second in the Roboik Unmanned Surface Water Vehicles Prototype Competition organised by the Ministry of Defence Industries last year with the Vesselbee01 model. Emphasising that they continue their vehicle development activities in this field, Sağlam said: “The teams of 7 universities with international recognition competed in the competition in Norway. Obviously, the budgets of the other teams are well above ours. However, despite this difficulty, the award we won with our Vesselbee02 vehicle made us very happy as it is the fruit of our efforts to develop the best vehicle.”
Sağlam emphasised that they achieved successful results in all three task titles and were ranked first against strong competitors, and thanked all sponsors who contributed to this success. Sağlam said; “In order to be taken seriously in the competition, it is very important to take part and be represented here in a professional manner. In this context, Pigment Reklam prepared roll ups, pennants and stickers for us. The quality of these prints was really good. The stickers we pasted on our vehicle were especially eye-catching. The stickers showing our sponsor logos on the vehicle had to be water resistant and Pigment Reklam provided us with the best in this regard. I would like to thank them once again.”
Nyala’s signature on Autobee printing
Emir Sağlam stated that representing Türkiye in an international competition is an exciting occasion and explained; “The joy of proving ourselves and representing our country successfully is indescribable. In addition to our success in the competition, we had the opportunity to present ourselves to sponsors, visitors and other competitors in a professional way thanks to Pigment Reklam. This and similar supports are very important for us both in morale building in the competition and in gathering strength for new works.”
The prints made by Pigment Reklam on swissQprint’s Nyala 3, the best-selling industrial UV printer in the market, were used both on the vehicle, which had a tough struggle with water, and on the stand areas for the team’s promotional activities. The prints prepared according to different requirements contributed to the branding of the vehicle and the promotion of the team. Today, the Nyala version, launched with the 4th generation, stands out as the best-selling model in Europe in its segment.
Pigment Reklam Company Owner Serkan Çağlıyan said that they are happy to support such projects and works representing our country and congratulated the Autobee team for the first prize. Çağlıyan disclosed; “Supporting as a sponsor has turned us into a part of this process and success. We are proud of the success achieved on behalf of our country. We will continue to support R&D and start-up projects and initiatives that focus on new product development. It will be our greatest happiness to see the fruits of our support.”