Lassonde School of Engineering graduate student Robert Codd-Downey received a VISTA Doctoral Scholarship in early 2017. His research is supervised by VISTA Core Member Michael Jenkin and focuses on ‘Vision based diver robot interactions at depth’, a project funded by NSERC’s Canadian Field Robotics Network (NCFRN). More specifically, Codd-Downey’s project explores how communication can be improved between divers and robotic assistants underwater. He uses light-based (LiFi) communication methods to control an underwater robot either remotely or by a nearby diver.

The project presents an opportunity to develop a marketable product that assists robot-diver interactions underwater. The completion of this project and development of this new technology led Codd-Downey to receive an award for best demonstration at the June 2018 Space Vision and Advanced Robotics Workshop (SVAR) held at MacDonald Dettwiler and Associates (MDA), a VISTA partner.