Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE

Semi-finals: Fraunhofer experts are only German team to enter next stage of competition to explore world’s oceans

Research News /

Researchers from Fraunhofer IOSB, known as team ‘Arggonauts’, are the only German team to reach the semi-finals of the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE. This prestigious international competition aims to incentivize groundbreaking technological innovations in rapid and unmanned ocean exploration.

  • The goal of the international Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE competition is to incentivize teams to pursue breakthrough innovations for conducting detailed mapping and exploration of our planet’s ocean floor. The winning team will be selected in late 2018 and will receive a prize of four million US dollars.

  • Teams from all over the world are competing to map the ocean floor as accurately as possible in 3D and complete a series of defined tasks using cutting-edge deep-sea robot technology.

  • The “Arggonauts” from Fraunhofer IOSB are the only German team to qualify for the semi-finals. A total of 21 teams from 13 different countries have reached this stage of the competition.