Undergraduate Internship Advances Underwater Robotic Navigation Algorithms at MIT Lincoln Laboratory

During her internship at MIT Lincoln Laboratory’s Advanced Undersea Systems group, an undergraduate robotics student worked on an algorithm designed to enable underwater robotic vehicles and divers to navigate collaboratively in environments lacking traditional localization tools such as GPS. Her role extended beyond development to include rigorous field tests in diverse aquatic settings, validating algorithm performance in real-world scenarios.

Intern supervisors noted the intern’s active participation as a lead field tester during a critical testing phase of the project. While the algorithm and vehicle remain in experimental stages, these efforts represent tangible progress toward overcoming underwater navigation challenges critical to advancing autonomous and assistive underwater robotics.