News
We are hiring (2 PhDs and 1 postdoc)!

We are announcing the following open positions to be part of the research group for Internet of Underwater Things (within Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technologies) established in the framework of the Horizon Europe project UWIN-LABUST:

For the full Job Announcements please click on the above links.

The deadline for applications for the positions is July 15, 2023.

Interested candidates should contact us at uwin-labust@fer.hr.  
 

SOUND field trials in Eilat, Israel

From July 18th to 20th, field trials for the SOUND project took place in Eilat, Israel. This area of the Red Sea was chosen due to its steep bathymetry, enabling measurements at a great variety of depths. Five joint sea experiments were performed by the researchers from the University of Haifa and the University of Zagreb in order to check the integrated operation of the developed floater and the acoustic unit.

SOUND project Haifa visit and meeting...

The SOUND team from LABUST visited Haifa, Israel and the ANL facilities from July 16th to 20th, 2023.
As part of this visit, a meeting was held with the Croatian Ambassador to Israel Vesela Mrđen Korać in order to discuss both ongoing and future collaboration between the two countries. The Ambassador toured the laboratory facilities, met the various research teams, learned about current projects, and provided valuable insight into potential avenues for strengthening cooperative efforts.

ICRA 2023 in London

Three of our members participated in the ICRA conference that took place at London Excel! At one of the largest robotic conferences, our members Ivan Lončar, Natko Kraševac, and Juraj Obradović conducted a tutorial titled "TEAM – Technology Enablers for Autonomous Maritime Robots: Digital Twins with Simulations and Cloud-enabled Massive Scale Datasets for Experimentation and Validation."

This tutorial was conducted in collaboration with the research group Reeds (https://reeds.opendata.chalmers.se/) from Chalmers University of Technology in Gothenburg, Sweden. The collaboration between LABUST and Reeds began during the unmanned ship project with a common goal of creating large datasets for research and development in the field of autonomous boat driving. Although both groups shared the same goal, they chose different approaches. The Reed group acquired large amounts of data from their custom-made ship, equipped with a variety of sensors, while LABUST decided to take a different approach by creating a realistic simulation of the marine environment and tools for automatic data labeling using the MARUS simulator. For this tutorial, we decided to test the fusion of these two approaches in a Digital Twin, combining the best of both worlds to provide the best possible results for anyone using the data. The tutorial was a half-day event that took place on the first day of the conference, May 29, 2023.

On the final day of the conference, Natko Kraševac and Juraj Obradović participated in the Scalable Autonomous Driving tutorial, where they had the opportunity to listen to presentations from leading companies in the autonomous driving field, such as Nvidia and Cruise.

Invitation to the lecture...

As part of the UWIN-LABUST project, the Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technologies in collaboration with the IEEE Croatia Section - Robotics and Automation Chapter, the IEEE OES University of Zagreb Student Branch Chapter and IEEE Life Member Affinity Group - Croatia is happy to invite you to the lecture

"Technologies for underwater surveying: Workflow for 3D reconstruction of UCH sites"

held by Engr. Umberto Severino - Ph.D. student, Department of Mechanical, Energetic and Management Engineering (DIMEG), University of Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende, Italy. The lecture will take place on Friday, July 14th, 2023 at 10:00 in the LABUST pool laboratory, Martinovka building, Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER). The lecture is in English.

 

The lecturer’s CV and the summary of the lecture can be found below.

Oceans 2023 Limerick

During 5-8 June LABUST participated in the OCEANS 2023 Limerick conference with several different activities. More than 10 members of LABUST were in Limerick to present their work, connect with the community, and learn about new academic achievements in the field. We had multiple activities which include tutorials, 3 papers, and a booth presenting the collaboration with the University of Montenegro in the scope of the MONUSEN project.

Our members Ivan Lončar, Natko Kraševac, Fausto Ferreira, and Juraj Obradović conducted a tutorial titled MARUS - Unity Based Simulator for Marine Robotics. During this tutorial participants learned how to use MARUS simulator which was fully developed in LABUST and is finding many implementations in the academy and industry. Additionally, we conducted a citizen science experiment in which we compared the performance of participants to the previously developed algorithm in following COLREG rules. The same citizen science experiment was conducted in the MONUSEN booth. During the conference the startup company H2O Robotics which originated from LABUST had a booth where they presented their technologies to the community.

In the session Maritime Vehicle Navigation 1 our member Vladimir Slošić had a presentation for his paper titled "Underwater breadcrumb localization". In the session Pollution Monitoring our members Anja Babić and Nadir Kapetanović had a presentation for their paper titled "Cooperative marine litter detection and environmental monitoring using heterogeneous robotic agents". Additionally, Anja Babić chaired this session. In session Maritime Vehicle Navigation 2 our member Juraj Obradović had a presentation for the paper titled "Navigation, Guidance and Control of a catamaran robust to external disturbances".

Open doors of EU projects - LABUST

On the occasion of marking the tenth anniversary of the Republic of Croatia's accession to the European Union, on Friday, June 30, 2023, from 09:00 to 15:00, FER's Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technologies - LABUST will open its doors to all interested students and citizens.

The aim of holding "Open Doors" is to present activities and projects that have contributed to the development of higher education and technologies in the field of underwater systems.

Invitation to the lecture...

As part of the UWIN-LABUST project, the Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technologies in collaboration with the IEEE Croatia Section - Robotics and Automation Chapter, the IEEE OES University of Zagreb Student Branch Chapter and IEEE Life Member Affinity Group - Croatia is happy to invite you to the lecture

"Underwater remote sensing systems simulation for synthetic dataset generation"

held by dr. sc. Antonio Lagudi, Department of Mechanical, Energetics and Management Engineering (DIMEG), University of Calabria (UNICAL),  Arcavacata di Rende, Italy. The lecture will take place on Tuesday June 27th, 2023 at 11:00 in the Grey Hall at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER). The lecture is in English and is open to all interested participants.

 

The lecturer’s CV and the summary of the lecture can be found below.

Invitation to the lecture...

As part of the UWIN-LABUST project, the Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technologies in collaboration with the IEEE Croatia Section - Robotics and Automation Chapter, the IEEE OES University of Zagreb Student Branch Chapter and IEEE Life Member Affinity Group - Croatia is happy to invite you to the lecture

"Communicating and raising awareness about Underwater Natural and Cultural Heritage"

held by assoc. prof. dr. Fabio Bruno, Department of Mechanical, Energetics and Management Engineering (DIMEG), University of Calabria (UNICAL),  Arcavacata di Rende, Italy. The lecture will take place on Tuesday June 27th, 2023 at 10:00 in the Grey Hall at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER). The lecture is in English and is open to all interested participants.

The lecturer’s CV and the summary of the lecture can be found below.

Research projects and job...

For the sixteenth year in a row, companies and students had a unique opportunity to meet at the Job Fair, which was held on May 17 and 18, 2023 at the Zagreb Fair. The Job Fair was organized by FER, the FER Career Center, the FER Student Union (SS FER), and the Electrical Engineering Students Club (KSET). This year 152 companies participated. Moreover, 17 workshops, 24 invited talks, and various round table sessions were held. LABUST members Vladimir Slošić and Nadir Kapetanović presented our laboratory’s research projects and job opportunities. 

SOUND project first field trials

First field trials of the SOUND project took place in Šibenik from May 15 to May 18 2023. Teams from Haifa, Zagreb, and Šibenik gathered datasets at a fish farm, tested the initial floater prototype, and deployed an acoustic recorder for long-term monitoring of shipping noise in the Šibenik aquatorium.

Visit by Technical school Ruđer Bošković

Students from the Technical school Ruđer Bošković in Zagreb visited the LABUST laboratory facilities on Monday, April 1st as part of their extracurricular activity focusing on autonomous systems. They had a chance to test their Chasing Gladius Mini S ROV in the laboratory pool as well as to get to know LABUST projects and vehicles. A video report by prof. Robert Ljubek can be seen on YouTube.

Our members Nadir Kapetanović and Kristijan Krčmar participated in the "ROBOTIMA – my sea robotics" event organized in the scope of Innovamare project. The event was held in Trieste, Italy on May 3rd, 2023. Nadir gave a presentation about LABUST's current research activities, and later on, held a demo of the ASV H2Omni-X. 

Study visit to Haifa

As a part of the SOUND project and a collaboration with the University of Haifa, from March 7th to March 10th 2023, Martin Oreč from LABUST visited the National Institute for Oceanography and the Underwater Acoustic & Navigation Lab which is led by prof. Roee Diamant. The goal of this visit was to share knowledge and analyse floater vehicles developed during earlier projects. Martin had a chance to observe the advantages and disadvantages of the available floater design and make conclusions and gather ideas for future work, as well as tour the facility and see equipment, technologies, and teams who work in the institute.

International Industry Fair Celje

Martin Oreč and Benjamin Pavišić from LABUST visited Industrial Fair in Celje (SLO), the largest fair in the fields of machine manufacturing and toolmaking, welding, and cutting in SE Europe.

Invitation to the lecture...

As part of the UWIN-LABUST project, the Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technologies in collaboration with the IEEE Croatia Section - Robotics and Automation Chapter, the IEEE OES University of Zagreb Student Branch Chapter and IEEE Life Member Affinity Group - Croatia is happy to invite you to the lecture

"Intelligent and Networked Robots - Navigating into the Future"

 

held by dr. sc. Marco Bibuli, Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche – Istituto di Ingegneria del Mare, Genova, Italy. The lecture will take place on Monday February 27th, 2023. at 16:00 in the Grey Hall at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER). The lecture is in English and is open to all interested participants.

 

The lecturer’s CV and the summary of the lecture can be found below.

Nuno Cruz expert visit

From February 15th to 17th, 2023 LABUST in Zagreb hosted prof. Nuno Alexandre Cruz of the University of Porto, Portugal. As part of his expert visit, he gave a lecture titled "Science-based Innovation in Marine Robotics" at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing. Prof. Cruz then participated in several days of invaluable planning, brainstorming, and know-how exchange with UWIN-LABUST researchers.

Expert visits from University of Haifa

From February 13th to 16th, 2023 LABUST in Zagreb hosted Liav Nagar and Alik Chebotar from the University of Haifa, Underwater Acoustic & Navigation Lab. Liav and Alik participated in extensive planning and conceptualising of both hardware and software systems related to the SOUND project.

Neven Cukrov expert visit

On February 13th, 2023 LABUST in Zagreb hosted dr.sc. Neven Cukrov of the Institute Ruđer Bošković in Zagreb. As part of his expert visit, Neven participated in extensive brainstorming and experiment design related to the SOUND project, leveraging his expertise and connections to plan field trials and provide access to relevant deployment spots in fisheries across the Adriatic. Neven also participated in discussions of potential future projects related to marine noise pollution.

SOUND project kickoff meeting

The SOUND project kickoff meeting took place on Friday, January 13th 2023. Project coordinator prof. Roee Diamant (University of Haifa), project partner representatives prof. Nikola Mišković (UNIZG-FER) and dr.sc. Neven Cukrov (Institut Ruđer Bošković), as well as researchers Anja Babić and Martin Oreč laid the groundwork for the first year of the project.

SOUND proposal selected for grant

The UWIN-LABUST research group has been selected as a grant recipient of Schmidt Marine’s Global Fisheries Technology Initiative! This support will help us increase the sustainability of fisheries around the world. Coordinator prof. Roee Diamant, University of Haifa, Israel, describes the project concept as a series of low-cost devices that coordinate with each other to capture better acoustic data for assessing the diversity and quantity of fish populations.

Invitation to the lecture...

As part of the UWIN-LABUST project, the Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technologies in collaboration with the IEEE Croatia Section - Robotics and Automation Chapter and IEEE OES University of Zagreb Student Branch Chapter is happy to invite you to the lecture

"Science-based Innovation in Marine Robotics"

 

held by Prof. Nuno Alexandre Cruz, Dept. of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, University of Porto, Portugal. The lecture will take place on Wednesday February 15th, 2023. at 11:00 AM in the Grey Hall at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER). The lecture is in English and is open for all interested participants.

 

The lecturer’s CV and the summary of the lecture can be found below.

Invitation to the lecture "How...

As part of the UWIN-LABUST project, the Laboratory for Underwater Systems and Technologies in collaboration with the IEEE Croatia Section - Robotics and Automation Chapter and IEEE OES University of Zagreb Student Branch Chapter is happy to invite you to the lecture

"How to explore the world of marine fauna using underwater acoustic signal processing"

 

held by Prof. Roee Diamant, Dept. of Marine Technologies, University of Haifa, Israel. The lecture will take place on Wednesday February 15th, 2023. at 10:00 AM in the Grey Hall at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing (FER). The lecture is in English and is open for all interested participants.

 

The lecturer’s CV and the summary of the lecture can be found below.

UWIN-LABUST project started on January 1, 2023. In the following 5 years, and with the help of ERA Chair Prof. Roee Diamant and his team, we aim to achieve excellence in the broad application of Internet of Underwater Things through three main strategic research domains: underwater sensor communications, underwater acoustic signal processing, and underwater collaborative autonomy. Stay tuned to learn more about our activities and results!