The vessel is designed for complex hydroacoustic research of shallow water areas and can receive areal surveys of the bottom and objects, as well as sections of the bottom layers of soil in remote mode. Such a development is unique among civilian developments in Russia.

This small–sized unmanned vessel was developed by students of the Institute of Nanotechnology, Electronics and Instrumentation of the Southern Federal University - Artem Ibragimov, Dmitry Levchenko and Valery Polyakov. The project was headed by Pyotr Pivnev, Candidate of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor of the Department of Electrohydroacoustic and Medical Technology of the the Institute of Nanotechnology, Electronics and Instrumentation of the Southern Federal University, as well as the head of the SCB "Acoustics".

The idea to create such a boat arose as a result of the need to quickly and accurately collect information about the state of the marine environment and its inhabitants. Usually, for such studies, specialists need to go to the open sea, but the boat of students of the SFedU is unmanned and can function in any conditions of the marine environment.

According to the project participants, the feature of this development is the use of modern small-sized sonar devices (side-view sonar and parametric profiler) developed at the Department of EGAiMT with the direct participation of the SCB "Acoustics". The equipment installed on the small vessel was created at the department with the direct participation of LLC "NELAKS".  Employees Sergey Tarasov, Vasily Voronin, Pyotr Pivnev, Alexander Voloshchenko, Alexander Kotlyarov and graduate students Georgy Hakobjanyan, Valery Neruk, Daniil Davydov and Valery Polyakov participated in the creation of the equipment.

The vessel has already been tested on the territory of the Taganrog Bay and revealed the presence of dangerous objects and debris in the coastal zone.

"Monitoring work was carried out in order to search for potentially dangerous objects in the coastal zone. During the tests, flooded tires, accumulations of plastic debris, as well as fragments of trees that pose a danger to vacationers were identified. The complex has proved to be effective, its resolution allows you to quickly identify objects located at the bottom. The high mobility of the complex made it possible to carry out research in a short time, even at a shallow depth, where ordinary vessels are prohibited from sailing," said Dmitry Levchenko, a 4th–year student of the Instrument Engineering direction, a member of the SCB "Acoustics" the SFedU Institute of Nanotechnology, Electronics and Instrumentation.

The new unmanned boat will act as a platform for testing new products and conducting experiments. In purchasing the necessary equipment, the creators of the project were helped by an internal grant from the SFedU for the development of student scientific associations of the Southern Federal University. The team of SKB "Acoustics" developed the vessel even before entering the university, starting with the design of its hull. And after becoming students of the Institute of Nanotechnology, Electronics and Instrumentation, the guys put the ideas into practice and made the hull of the boat. The head of SKB "Acoustics" Pyotr Pivnev also told about how a student design bureau appeared in the walls of the university:

"Since the establishment of the department, all research has been carried out with the active participation of students. The Student Scientific and Technical Society began its work at the department in 1963. In 1966, an independent department was organized at the department – the student design bureau, which in 1968 turned from the cathedral SKB into the famous general institute SKB-1.  The tradition continues. Since 2016, the department has been operating the SKB "Acoustics" the Institute of Nanotechnology, Electronics and Instrumentation," said the head of the SKB "Acoustics" Peter Pivnev.

It is important to note that a mentor plays a huge role in the life of any student association, who is a source of wisdom and experience, helps students develop the best version of themselves, achieve their goals, and not be afraid of experiments and challenges. And in the Year of the mentor and teacher, announced by the decree of the President of the Russian Federation Vladimir Putin, the role of the teaching profession has acquired a special meaning, because these people are an example for the entire younger generation of our country.

"Pyotr Petrovich makes an unbearable contribution to the development of our ideas and the implementation of many projects. Of course, we are very grateful to him, without him we would hardly have been able to bring our unmanned boat to a successful development. He also provides great support both in the curriculum and on various issues arising in our student life," Dmitry Levchenko notes.

Thanks to the support of the Southern Federal University, including a competition for internal grants for scientific student associations and the work of a Startup studio at the university, students have the opportunity to implement their projects and turn them into profitable commercial products already at the training stage. This approach contributes to the development of the technological and economic potential of our country, as well as provides a flow of qualified specialists for technological progress and the development of import substitution.