MEET TARDIGRADE
Tardigrade is our competition robot for RoboSub 2026. It’s built around an aluminium frame that supports key components including an upgraded torpedo launcher, redesigned dropper mechanism and claw system. It also features improved sensors and cameras to improve navigation and perception in the environment.
This year, Tardigrade underwent major improvements to improve accuracy, simplify maintenance, and strengthen overall robustness.
2026 Technical Design report
DIMENSIONS
Length:
Width:
Height:
Weight:
DEGREES OF FREEDOM
6 (Surge, Sway, Heave, Roll, Pitch, Yaw)
BATTERY
BlueRobotics 22.2V 6S LiPo
PROPULSION
8 BlueRobotics T2000 Thrusters
VISION SYSTEMS
Stereolabs ZED 2
Arducam
CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT
NVIDIA Jetson AGX Xavier
SOFTWARE ARCHITECTURE
Python, YOLO, ROS2 Foxy, Gazebo, OpenCV, ZED SDK
Mechanical Structure
Electronics housing
A major chassis update allows wiring to come out of one side of the robot, improving ease of maintenance and making debugging faster.
Torpedo system
The torpedo system was redesigned to allow for increased firing accuracy and distance. It features a spring-loaded design, mounting block that attaches the system to the frame of Tardigrade, springs that act as the basis of our launching mechanism, a latching system actuated by two waterproofed servos, and two identical torpedoes.
Dropper objects
The dropper system is a servo-operated shutter that opens to drop pre-loaded objects at the desired locations. The dropper objects are 3D printed in a teardrop-like shape with higher infill density at the rounded end, and a copper weight inserted during assembly to facilitate a straight, vertical path through the water.
Claw system
Our claw is a modified Blue Robotics Newton Gripper to allow for systems integration and improve grip strength. This allows for increased grip force and resolves past waterproofing issues.
Electrical Structure
Power system
Tardigrade has a 22.2V LiPo battery from Blue Robotics, enclosed in a separate waterproof battery enclosure. It is connected to the main electronics housing and the power distribution board, a buck converter to step down the input voltage to the Jetson and the Pixhawk power module, which ensures the Pixhawk operates at a steady voltage.
Communication
To allow for communication between the Jetson and Pixhawk, we use the Micro XRCE-DDS agent, which is ideal for the Pixhawk to focus on deterministic control, and leaves computation to the Jetson.
Sensing and Perception
We use a ZED 2 as the main camera at the front of the robot, and a smaller robot, the Arducam, placed underneath the robot as well. Tardigrade now uses a Vectornav VN-100 IMU that works better with our existing electronics, to provide reliable data about the robot’s motion.
Software
Perception system
We implemented a YOLO object detection model, which provides higher accuracy for a real-time object detection and better generalization using our data generation pipeline.
Navigation and Controls
We utilized a behavior tree algorithm, allowing for clean mapping of failsafe actions and sequential ordering. It includes separate task nodes for gate traversal, torpedo, claw, and dropper tasks.
