AUVSI and ONR’s 12th Annual International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition starts up tomorrow (July 30th), with two days of prelimiary runs and testing, followed by 2 days of competition this weekend. Last year’s winner, University of Maryland, along with 29 other teams are signed up to compete. Several of the teams have blogs where you can follow the competition as it unfolds. Cornell (update: along with ETS) will also be tweeting the events. You can read the full rules for this year’s competition, entitled “Divin’ Dozen”, here.

Personally, I’m rooting for the NCSU Underwater Robotics Club – a club I helped found. Go wolfpack!

Update: Here’s a nice compilation shot of a bunch of different vehicles at the competition. The picture was taken by the Naval Academy Team.

Update: We have winners!