AGH Solar Boat finishes 4th in the AI class at prestigious competition in Monaco

From 8 to 11 July, the AGH Solar Boat team participated in the Monaco Energy Boat Challenge. Our university was represented by the autonomous solar boat Celka, which competed in the AI class.

The competition was a huge challenge for our students, as this was the first time that Celka sailed fully autonomously, without a pilot on board who could react in the event of a malfunction.

In the first stage, the competitors had to undergo a very rigorous technical inspection (due to the requirement for full autonomy), after which they took part in the official opening ceremony alongside teams from all over the world.

"During the competition, we participated in several technical events (AI Docking, AI Fleet, and AI Figure of Eight). We encountered some technical issues that made it difficult to complete some of the tasks. However, each test run provided us with valuable data that we will use to develop the boat further. We also qualified for the final of the e-sports competition. Although we did not win the final, just getting there was a major achievement for us," said Anita Uzar, a member of AGH Solar Boat.

On the last day of the competition, AGH Solar Boat took part in the AI Slalom event, in which Celka performed very well. In the end, the AGH University team came fourth out of 10 teams in the AI class. Our students are very proud of this result, given the level of difficulty of this year's competition and the fact that this was their first time competing in a fully autonomous category.