Overview

The RIP Lab’s Unmanned X Systems (UXS) research group, or Team Kanaloa, is a Vertically Integrated Project (VIP) aimed towards the advancement of Unmanned Systems technologies.  The need for robust software and hardware robot platform(s), often equipped with expensive sensors and instrumentation, creates a high barrier of entry to the field of robotics and unmanned systems.  Following the VIP academic framework, the UXS development group aims to engineer robust unmanned aerial, surface, and underwater platforms for practical applications.  Our research interests are in the areas of sensor fusion-based localization, vison-based scanning and 3D scene reconstruction, simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), obstacle avoidance, manipulation, swarm robotics, and autonomous multi-objective decision making algorithms.

Team Kanaloa consists of five subsystems:

• Mechanical design
• Hardware selection and interoperability
• Sensor fusion and signal processing
• Navigation and control
• Mission planning and autonomy

Projects and Areas of Study

• Team Kanaloa – UPSV 2021
• Team Kanaloa – AUVSI Maritime RobotX Challenge 2020
• ROV Deployment and Recovery
• Team Kanaloa – AUVSI Maritime RobotX Challenge 2018
• Team Kanaloa – Ordnance Reef 2016-2017
• Team Kanaloa – AUVSI Maritime RobotX Challenge 2016
• Marine Chemical Spill Modeling

Sand Island Field Test – July 31, 2019

WLAN RSSI Land Sea Range Testing – June to August 2019

Coconut Island Demo Applied Research Lab – April 22 to May 05, 2019

MANTAS 2019 Applied Research Lab Demo – March 10, 2019

AUVSI Maritime RobotX Challenge – December 2018

AUVSI Maritime RobotX 2018 Preparation – Fall 2018

MANTAS II 2018 Applied Research Lab Demo – October 27, 2018

BlueROV Launch+Recovery System Testing – February – May 2018

Field Test – May 05, 2018

Team Kanaloa/MRUH Robotics Workshop – April 18, 2018

MANTAS 2018 Applied Research Lab Demo – March 11, 2018

BlueROV Testing – December 2017

Field Test – November 27, 2017

MALIA 2017 Applied Research Laboratory Demo – April 22, 2017

Field Test, May 06, 2017

Field Test – April 22, 2017

AUVSI Maritime RobotX Challenge – December 2016

Marine Technology Society Presentation – September 15, 2016

Field Test – July 25, 2016

Full-Loaded WAM-V Articulation

2D LiDAR SLAM (Simultaneous Localization and Mapping)

3D LiDAR Testing

RGB Color Recognition

Team Kanaloa Alumni

Fall 2018: Peter Agcanas, Raymond Andrade, Paul Baessler, Kekoa Data, Blaine Furman, Hunter Garrett, Dominic Gaspar, Danny Hong, Kai Jones, Serena Kobayashi, Cheyenne Marie Langamin, Yong Cong Li, Charmaine Lum, Lisa Mahan, Kealoha Moody, Kai Outlaw-Spruell, Jordan Romanelli, Dane Sobol, Daniel Truong, Allison Wong, Brennan Yamamoto.  Special thanks to Bradley Beeksma, Michael Borusinski, Curran Meek, Brenden Minei, Tyson Seto-Mook, Dr. Zhuoyuan Song, Anthony Sylvester III, Ryan Theriot.

Spring 2018: Aricia Argyris, Peter Agcanas, Jason Chan, Allan Ching, Jonathan De Leon, Richard Eidswick, Ryan Ganiron, Michael Huang, Kai Jones, Peiyi Kwok, Cheyenne Langamin, Benjamin Liang, Michael Loui, Andrew Ngyuen, Johnny Pham, Jordan Romanelli, Ryan Roque, Ronnie Soriano, Russell Tolentino, Chauncey Tom, Allison Wong, Brennan Yamamoto, Yoshio Yoshizumi, Qicheng Zhou.

Fall 2017: Aricia Argyris, Jonathan De Leon, Richard Eidswick, Michael Huang, Kai Jones, Thomas Moriyasu, Andrew Ngyuen, Johnny Pham, Ryan Roque, Russell Tolentino, Chauncey Tom, Allison Wong, Brennan Yamamoto.

Spring 2017: Aricia Argyris, Ileana Argyris, Amy Bentz, Karla Cortez, Steven Cory, Jonathan De Leon, Raina Ann Duenas, Richard Eidswick, Nicole Clare Hortizuela, Michael Huang, Kelan Ige, Christianne Izumigawa, Kai Jones, Minshik Kang, Steven Kim, Paulo Lemus, Michael Loui, Aaron Nagamine, Nathan Park, Kobe Taylor, Eric Welton, Allison Wong, Darren Wong, Brennan Yamamoto.

Fall 2016: Aricia Argyris, Ileana Argyris, Amy Bentz, Karla Cortez, Steven Cory, Jonathan De Leon, Raina Ann Duenas, Richard Eidswick, Nicole Clare Hortizuela, Michael Huang, Kelan Ige, Christianne Izumigawa, Minshik Kang, Steven Kim, Paulo Lemus, Michael Loui, Aaron Nagamine, Nathan Park, Kobe Taylor, Eric Welton, Allison Wong, Darren Wong, Brennan Yamamoto.  Special thanks to Mark Rongstad, Anthony Sylvester III.

Interested Student Information

Team Kanaloa is looking for dedicated students of all backgrounds and skill levels!  No prior knowledge or experience is required; however, dedication, a positive attitude, and a willingness to learn is mandatory.

If you are interested, please fully read our Kanaloa Team Member Expectations document shown below (it’s two pages long!).  Then fill out our new member application form here (note: you must be signed into your hawaii.edu account by default in your browser to access the form!  If you are signed into a personal google account, sign into your hawaii.edu account in a new incognito tab, and open the form in that tab).  After filling out this form, we will contact you to schedule a recruitment meeting.

If you have any questions, please contact us.

Thank you to all of our amazing sponsors!

The College of Engineering at the University of Hawaii is a leader for innovation and research in the Pacific. Team Kanaloa was graciously awarded funding and resources from the the College of Engineering and the Mechanical Engineering department to assist in the development of the team’s project.

Sponsored by the US Navy and administered by the University of Hawaii, ARL conducts research for various government agencies. With a focus on naval applications, ARL generously funded a significant portion of Team Kanaloa’s project in the early days of the team.

Velodyne is a market leader in Lidar technology. Velodyne graciously granted Team Kanaloa with their VLP-16 Lidar for use during the RobotX 2018 competition.

The Marine Technology Society is an organization that promotes the awareness, understanding, advancement, and application of marine technology. The Hawaii Section of the Marine Technology Society graciously provided a platform for its members to make charitable donations to Team Kanaloa.

Founded in 1973, Makai Ocean Engineering provides design engineering and development services. With a wide breadth of talent, Team Kanaloa was fortunate in obtaining mentorship from one of their engineers and a University of Hawaii alumnus.

Nvidia is a market leader in processing units designed for gaming, professional visualization, data centers, auto, and artificial intelligence.  Nvidia graciously granted Team Kanaloa with their Jetson TX2 development kit for use during the RobotX 2018 competition.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers, the largest technical, professional organization in the world, is dedicated to benefiting humanity through technological innovation and excellence. Through the kind support from a mentor of the team, Team Kanaloa was gifted our first set of trolling motors with a IEEE grant.

MathWorks is a leader in the development of mathematical computing software. A team license for MATLAB was graciously provided to Team Kanaloa to help in the development of our robotic systems.

Founded in 1966, Banner Engineering has since become a global leader in process and industrial automation. The LED light, provided by Banner, onboard the WAM-V is used to provide feedback and indicate the state of the vessel.

Founded in 1989, Ultimate Innovations is a local Hawaiian company dedicated to providing the ultimate in landscaping. When asked, Ultimate Innovations kindly provided assistance with the transport of Team Kanaloa’s WAM-V.