Global Ocean Robotics Day makes waves around the world with deep dive into autonomous marine robotics

While the ocean's depths may be vast, the growing community of researchers dedicated to exploring them with autonomous robotics is more connected than ever following Global Ocean Robotics Day. Constructor University was one of 10 partner hubs around the world to host the inaugural international symposium on October 21, which explored how artificial intelligence and autonomous robotics are transforming ocean research and exploration. The hybrid event was free to attend online or at one of 10 globally distributed, in-person hubs, and featured talks from leading researchers and academics from more than a dozen countries across Europe, Asia, North America and Australia.

“Today felt like an important milestone and the start of an exciting new chapter for our passionate and global community," said Prof. Dr. Francesco Maurelli, Professor of Marine Systems and Robotics at Constructor University and one of the event's organizers. "Our goal was not only to showcase the latest in marine AI and underwater robotics, but also to use this platform to elevate researchers and institutions from regions that are often underrepresented. I’m inspired by what we achieved in both those areas today and excited to see where we take this event in the coming years.”

Designed to strengthen international exchange, particularly for underrepresented regions, Global Ocean Robotics Day featured a full day of talks on marine artificial intelligence, autonomous underwater vehicles and robotic systems for ocean observation. Topics included using marine vehicle trajectories to map ocean currents, simulating autonomous docking using digital twins, and developing underwater robotic swarms. Other presentations explored bio-inspired underwater robots, trustworthy multi-robot systems, and low-cost robotic fleets for real-world ocean deployments.

“This kind of global collaboration at the frontier of emerging science and technology cuts to the core of our mission at Constructor University," said Frazer Cairns, Provost of Constructor University. "We are proud to host and showcase the critical work Professor Maurelli and his colleagues from around the world are doing at the intersection of AI and robotics—two fields poised to rapidly transform human society in the coming years—and we will continue to support the advancement of these fields on our campus.”

Marine Robotics at Constructor University

Prof. Maurelli's talk on advanced sensing and navigation examined how autonomous underwater robots can perceive, navigate and make decisions in uncertain environments using sonar, vision, fault-resilient systems and onboard intelligence. It highlighted the research being conducted by Prof. Maurelli and others at Constructor University's Marine Systems and Robotics research group, including PhD student Muhammad Waqar Mughal.

Mughal attended the event in-person to offer a hands-on look at the research taking place at Constructor University. He and others from the research group showcased several autonomous marine robots designed, developed and built by the team, including the robot for which he is developing autonomous and deep-learning systems during his PhD.

“I first met Professor Maurelli in 2021 in Pakistan and joined Constructor University two years later to begin my PhD with him in 2023. The facilities and resources we have access to here through our robotics group, the Ocean Lab and local marine environments in Bremen allow us to design, build and experiment from concept right through to real-world testing," explained Mughal. "That combination of hands-on research, mentoring and interdisciplinary collaboration has been really valuable for my own project, and for my goal of seeing our robot complete fully autonomous tasks in Bremen's waters.”

Learn more about studying robotics and intelligent systems at Constructor University.

About Global Ocean Robotics Day

Global Ocean Robotics Day was organized by Prof. Dr. Giulia De Masi, Sorbonne University Abu Dhabi, and Prof. Dr. Francesco Maurelli, Constructor University, as part of the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society’s Distributed Online Technical Activities. The event connected 10 local hubs through a globally coordinated hybrid format designed to support free participation, international exchange,  and broader access to research in marine AI and underwater robotics.