Shell Ocean Discovery X-Prize
The Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE is a global research competition for the exploration and mapping of the deep sea. The competition, endowed with a total of seven million US dollars in prize money, is intended to promote the development of maritime technologies and thus advance deep-sea exploration.
The Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE is organized by the XPRIZE Foundation . The competition is financed by the British oil company Shell and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). The competition will take place from December 2015 to December 2018. On the basis of the technical documents submitted, 21 of the 32 originally approved teams were selected by the jury for the semi-finals.
Predefined tasks
The Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE is divided into two competition rounds in which the teams have to map a prescribed area on the seabed with the help of self-developed technology solutions and have to solve different tasks. The top ten teams from round 1 qualify for the second round of the competition. The regulations stipulate that all components used for data acquisition during the competition must be placed in an ISO container . In addition, nobody is allowed to be in the competition area during the entire test phase.
Round 1
In the first round of the competition, the teams must map an area of at least 20% of a 500 km² area within 16 hours at a depth of 2000 m. They should provide the following data:
- A bathymetric map with a resolution of five meters or higher
- A high-resolution photo of a specific, named target object
- At least five high-resolution photographs of archaeological, biological or geological features (max. 50)
After the 16-hour exploration phase, the teams have 48 hours to process the data obtained and present their results to the jury. If more than ten teams succeed in meeting these minimum requirements, the points scored, which are awarded by an independent jury, count. When awarding points, the size of the mapped area, the resolution of the map created and the quality of the photos are evaluated.
round 2
The second round of the competition takes place at a depth of 4000 m. At least 50% of an area of 500 km² must be mapped within 24 hours. In addition to the high-resolution photo of a named target, ten photos of archaeological, biological or geological features must also be taken. In the second round too, the results must be available to the jury within 48 hours.
Time schedule
| December 14, 2015 | Prize money opening and registration open |
| April 25, 2016 | Final competition guidelines published |
| June 1, 2016 | Rules and regulations published |
| June 30, 2016 | Regular registration deadline |
| September 30, 2016 | Late registration deadline |
| November 2016 | Team and jury meeting |
| December 2016 | Deadline for submitting technical documents |
| February 2017 | Teams qualified for semi-finals announced |
| October – November 2017 | Test phase round 1 |
| December 2017 | Announcement Results Round 1 |
| January 2018 | Start of round 2 |
| November and December 2018 | Test phase round 2 |
| December 2018 | Award ceremony |
Price allocation
Grand Prize
The grand prize is four million US dollars. If several teams meet the minimum requirements, the team that has scored the most points for the high-resolution seabed map and high-resolution images after round 2 wins.
Second prize
The second prize is one million US dollars. If there is no second team that meets the minimum requirements, the entire sum goes to the first place.
Milestone price
The milestone price is $ 1 million in total. After the first round it is divided evenly among up to ten teams that have achieved the highest number of points.
NOAA bonus award
The bonus prize of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is one million US dollars and is only distributed to teams that are headquartered in the US or whose participants are exclusively US Americans. For the prize, the teams have to find a defined object based on its biological or chemical properties. If no team succeeds in this in the first round of the competition, the participants in the second round have the opportunity to win the prize again.
Teams in the semifinals
On February 16, 2017, the following 21 teams were announced that had qualified on the basis of the technical documents submitted.
| team | country | team leader |
|---|---|---|
| ARGGONAUTS | Germany | Gunnar Brink |
| BangaloreRobotics | India | Venkatesh Gurappa |
| Blue Devil Ocean Engineering | United States | Martin Brooke |
| CFIS | Switzerland | Toby Jackson |
| Eauligo | France | Christopher Lewis |
| ENVIRODRONE | Canada | Ryan Cant |
| Exocetus Autonomous Systems | United States | Joe Turner |
| GEBCO-NF | New Zealand | Robin Falconer |
| KUROSHIO | Japan | Takeshi Nakatani |
| LeHigh Tide | United States | Hanna Mo |
| Ocean Quest | United States | Danny Kim |
| Ocean add | United States | James Case |
| OD-Africa | Ghana | Mark Amo-Boateng |
| Orca Robotics | United States | Philipp Rhyner |
| PISCES | Portugal | Nuno Cruz |
| SubUAS | United States | Javier Diez |
| Tampa Deep-Sea X-plorers | United States | Edward Larson |
| Team Tao | UK | Dale Wakeham |
| Texas A&M University Ocean Engineering | United States | Dylan Blakeslee |
| Virginia DEEP-X | United States | Dan Stilwell |
| X994 | United States | David Ryan |
Teams in the final
On March 7, 2018, the following 9 teams were announced, which were selected for the final by an independent jury of experts based on their previous achievements and successes.
| team | country | team leader |
|---|---|---|
| ARGGONAUTS | Germany | Gunnar Brink |
| Blue Devil Ocean Engineering | United States | Martin Brooke |
| CFIS | Switzerland | Toby Jackson |
| GEBCO-NF alumni | United States | Robin Falconer |
| KUROSHIO | Japan | Takeshi Nakatani |
| PISCES | Portugal | Nuno Cruz |
| Team Tao | UK | Dale Wakeham |
| Texas A&M University Ocean Engineering | United States | Dylan Blakeslee |
| Virginia DEEP-X | United States | Dan Stilwell |
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ 21 Semifinalist Teams Advancing in $ 7M Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE. Retrieved March 16, 2017 .
- ↑ Competition Guidelines. Retrieved March 16, 2017 .
- ↑ Competition Guidelines. Retrieved March 16, 2017 .
- ↑ Competition Guidelines. Retrieved March 16, 2017 .
- ↑ Schedule. Retrieved March 16, 2017 .
- ↑ Competition Guidelines. Retrieved March 16, 2017 .
- ↑ Competition Guidelines. Retrieved March 16, 2017 .
- ↑ Competition Guidelines. Retrieved March 16, 2017 .
- ↑ Competition Guidelines. Retrieved March 16, 2017 .
- ↑ Meet the semi finalist teams. Retrieved March 16, 2017 .
- ^ Nine Teams advance to final round of the $ 7M Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE. Retrieved July 6, 2018 .