LABUST has taken part in many scientific research projects relating to underwater systems and technologies in various roles. This includes numerous international (FP7, H2020, ONRG, INTERREG,...) as well as national projects.
The new project “Heterogeneous autonomous robotic system in viticulture and mariculture (HEKTOR)” commenced on 13 March 2020. It is a three-year project funded by European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) and coordinated by the University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing with Prof. Zdenko Kovacic as Project Leader.
Project partners are the University of Dubrovnik (Institute for Marine and Coastal Research) and the University of Zagreb Faculty of Agriculture. Two UNIZG-FER laboratories are involved in the implementation of the project – Laboratory for Robotics and Intelligent Control Systems (LARICS) and Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technologies (LABUST).
The main objective of HEKTOR project is to provide a systematic solution for the coordination and cooperation of smart heterogeneous robots/vehicles (marine, land, and air) capable of autonomously collaborating and distributing tasks in open unstructured space/waters. HEKTOR is conceived as a modular and autonomous system, adapted for various missions in viticulture and mariculture with the anticipated possibility of human intervention while performing various work, inspection and intervention tasks.