We are Desert WAVE
The Si Se Puede Foundation has established a women's robotics team dedicated to designing and developing autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). This team competes in RoboNation's prestigious International RoboSub Competition, an annual event and held this year in Irvine, California.
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Our mission is to provide a supportive and engaging environment where female engineering students can come together to grow and accomplish amazing things. We prepare our members with interpersonal, professional, and real-world technical skills necessary to excel in their studies and careers.
We hope to serve as an inspiration for the community and as role models for the next WAVE of engineers.
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This website documents the team's efforts to prepare for this rigorous competition where more than 50 teams compete from over 12 countries.
Meet Phoenix
The team’s autonomous underwater vehicle, named Phoenix, includes 10 thrusters as well as a passive sonar, Doppler velocity log, fiber optic gyroscope, and two cameras. Phoenix is capable of precise autonomous navigation, manipulating objects, locating the position of an acoustic signal, and classification via vision processing. At the 2019 RoboSub Competition, Phoenix placed 3rd internationally and first in the U. S.
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Meet Baby Dragon
Meet Baby Dragon! Desert WAVE's third AUV. She was designed from a NURC (National Underwater Robotics) Kit in 2024. Her original capabilities include using a game pad, pressure sensor and flash light. Desert WAVE upgraded her capabilties to run missions with Dragon such as IVC (Inter-Vehicle Communicaton) and Navigating through the gate.
Meet Dragon
Meet Dragon, Desert WAVE's second AUV. Dragon was designed to work in conjunction with Phoenix. She will have all the capabilities that Phoenix does, as well as a pneumatic system that allows for advanced manipulation.
Meet The Team
Desert WAVE is composed of four key subteams, mechanical, electrical, programming, and outreach, that work together to design, build, and support the autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). The mechanical subteam focuses on designing, manufacturing, assembling, and testing the AUV’s physical structure, ensuring it is durable, lightweight, waterproof, and reliable in underwater environments. The electrical subteam manages the vehicle’s electronic systems by designing circuits, integrating sensors, connecting motors and thrusters, and ensuring safe power distribution while troubleshooting and waterproofing hardware components. The programming subteam develops the software that enables the AUV to operate autonomously through navigation, sensor integration, computer vision, and decision-making algorithms that allow the vehicle to complete missions without direct human control. Supporting these technical efforts, the outreach subteam promotes the team within the community by organizing events, building relationships with sponsors and industry partners, managing fundraising and social media, and educating others about robotics and STEM. Together, these subteams collaborate to ensure the AUV is functional, competitive, and supported both technically and professionally.
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
Contact Us
For any inquiries, email us at: desertwave@sisepuedefoundation.org
Donate to our team: here!