KH-01. Carbon. Fast. Autonomous.
Our 2027 competition platform: a twin-hull, vacuum-infused carbon-fiber ASV designed around RoboBoat's speed, precision and endurance demands.
One platform, every task.
KH-01 pairs two slender carbon demihulls with a wide working deck — a geometry chosen to keep sensors stable at speed, carry every mission subsystem, and still sprint through the speed channel when the clock is running.
- Twin-hull catamaran for a stable perception baseline
- Carbon-fiber sandwich construction, cured in-house
- Differential thrust for station-keeping and quick turns
- Modular mission bay for task-specific payloads
KH-01 at a glance.
| Designation | KH-01 — RoboBoat 2027 competition platform |
| Configuration | Twin-hull catamaran ASV |
| Length overall | 1.85 m |
| Beam | 1.20 m |
| Hull material | Carbon-fiber / PVC foam sandwich, vacuum infused |
| Dry mass | 28 kg (incl. batteries) |
| Propulsion | 2 × brushless underwater thrusters |
| Steering | Differential thrust (no rudder) |
| Top speed | 4.5 m/s (~8.7 kn) |
| Endurance | 90 min at mission speed |
| Positioning | RTK GNSS + industrial IMU |
| Perception | Stereo camera + 2D LiDAR, fused |
| Compute | NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX |
| Power | 2 × 6S Li-ion battery packs |
| Software | ROS 2 middleware, custom autonomy stack |
| Safety | Remote e-stop, leak detection, watchdog |
Draft note: the name "KH-01" and all figures above are placeholders — replace with final measured data before the documentation deadline.
A catamaran that earns its width.
Two slender demihulls keep wave-making resistance low at sprint speed, while the wide beam between them delivers roll stability — the difference between a usable camera image and a blurred one. The carbon sandwich skins over a PVC core give a stiffness-to-weight ratio no off-the-shelf hull offers.
Two thrusters, zero rudders.
Twin brushless underwater thrusters provide differential thrust: speed comes from both, steering from their difference. With no rudder linkage there is one less mechanism to fail — and the boat can rotate in place and hold station against wind and current, which precision tasks demand.
Cameras and LiDAR, fused.
A stereo camera reads color and shape — buoys, gates, symbols — while a 2D LiDAR contributes precise geometry and range. Their outputs are fused with RTK-GNSS position and IMU attitude into a single world model the planner can trust, in sun glare, reflections and low contrast alike.
An office-grade brain in a waterproof skull.
An NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX runs the full autonomy stack inside a sealed electronics bay, fed by twin 6S Li-ion packs with independent power rails for propulsion and avionics. A remote e-stop, leak sensors and a hardware watchdog stand between every failure mode and the water.
The stack behind the world title.
Built on ROS 2 and proven through SAUVC 2026, the KH-01 software is modular by design: every layer can be tested in simulation, on the bench and on the water — independently.
Drivers & estimation
Sensor drivers, state estimation and sensor fusion into a consistent world model.
Perception
Buoy and gate detection, obstacle tracking and classification from fused camera + LiDAR.
Planning
Behavior-tree mission execution with route planning and dynamic obstacle avoidance.
Control
LOS waypoint following, heading control and differential-thrust allocation.