Dr. Marina AlcoverAcademic director focused on measurable results and operational excellence in maritime education. Integrates IMO/STCW regulations and ISO 21001/9001 f
Masters · 1500 h · 11 modules
Master's in Marine Robot Swarms and Multi-Vehicle Systems
The Master's in Marine Robot Swarms and Multi-Vehicle Systems Prepares you to design, coordinate and operate multi-robot marine systems that work together on the surface and underwater. You will study autonomous surface and underw
Duration1500 h
FormatOnline
Starts7 December
Places20 / 20
Prior knowledge
Prior Knowledge Assessment
These are the skills this programme builds. Tick the ones you already have and we will tell you which part of the syllabus is really for you.
Your profile
Tick what you already know to see your result.
Programme overview
What is the Master’s in Marine Robot Swarms and Multi-Vehicle Systems?
The Master's in Marine Robot Swarms and Multi-Vehicle Systems
Prepares you to design, coordinate and operate multi-robot marine systems that work together on the surface and underwater. You will study autonomous surface and underwater vehicles, acoustic communications and networking, cooperative navigation, distributed control, mission planning and swarm intelligence, using simulation and open-source tools, so that you can apply these emerging technologies to oceanography, inspection, maritime safety and environmental monitoring.
Key advantages
- Frontier technology: Multi-vehicle coordination, a rapidly evolving field.
- Solid foundations: Control, navigation and communications before tackling swarms.
- Real simulation: Hands-on work with ROS 2 and open-source marine simulators.
- Concrete applications: Oceanography, inspection, search and surveillance.
- Your own project: Design and simulation of a multi-vehicle mission.
Programme type
Master's Degree
Study mode
Online
Duration
1,500 hours
Modules
11
Programme highlights
- Master the vehicles: Get to know ASVs, AUVs, ROVs and gliders.
- Coordinate fleets: Apply distributed control and consensus.
- Communicate underwater: Design networks using acoustic communications.
- Plan missions: Use task allocation and path planning algorithms.
- Boost your career: Open doors to robotics companies, technology centres and civil security.
- Train to lead the next generation of cooperative marine robotics.
Curriculum
Programme Structure
The programme is structured in 11 modules, listed below in order of study.
01
Fundamentals of Marine Robotics
- History and state of marine robotics
- Types of uncrewed marine vehicles
- The marine environment and its constraints
- Basic vehicle hydrodynamics
- Propulsion and power
- Navigation sensors
- Payload sensors
- Robotic software architectures
- Vehicle launch and recovery
- Challenges of autonomy at sea
02
Surface and Underwater Vehicles
- Autonomous surface vehicles
- Autonomous underwater vehicles
- Remotely operated vehicles
- Underwater gliders
- Hybrid vehicles
- Dynamic modelling
- Low-level control
- Energy autonomy
- Maintenance and reliability
- Choosing platforms for each mission
03
Underwater Communications and Networking
- Acoustic propagation in the sea
- Acoustic modems
- Underwater optical communications
- Radio and satellite at the surface
- Underwater network protocols
- Limited latency and bandwidth
- Delay-tolerant networking
- Surface-to-seabed gateways
- Communications security
- Designing a fleet network
04
Cooperative Navigation and Localisation
- Inertial navigation and DVL
- Acoustic positioning
- Sensor fusion and Kalman filters
- Cooperative localisation
- Surface vehicle as a moving reference
- Underwater SLAM
- Multi-vehicle SLAM
- Managing uncertainty
- Sensor calibration
- Assessing navigation errors
05
Distributed Control and Formations
- Graph theory for multi-agent systems
- Consensus algorithms
- Formation control
- Leader following
- Collision avoidance
- Control with intermittent communications
- Stability of distributed systems
- Fault robustness
- Distributed model predictive control
- Implementation in simulation
06
Swarm Intelligence
- Principles of swarm intelligence
- Emergent behaviours
- Models inspired by fish schools
- Area coverage algorithms
- Source seeking and localisation
- Collective decision-making
- Swarm scalability
- Heterogeneous vehicles
- Current limitations and challenges
- State of research
07
Mission Planning and Task Allocation
- Defining mission objectives
- Path planning
- Multi-robot task allocation
- Auction-based algorithms
- Optimisation under energy constraints
- Real-time replanning
- Planning with ocean currents
- Adaptive sampling
- Managing long-endurance missions
- Planning tools
08
Perception and Data Fusion
- Side-scan and multibeam sonar
- Underwater vision
- Object detection and classification
- Fusing data from several vehicles
- Shared environment maps
- Machine learning for perception
- Data compression for transmission
- Mission data management
- Data quality and validation
- Visualising results
09
Simulation, Software and Testing
- ROS 2 for marine robotics
- Open-source marine simulators
- Modelling sensors and the environment
- Simulating communications
- Software-in-the-loop testing
- Hardware-in-the-loop testing
- Tank trials
- Sea trials
- Data logging and analysis
- Validation methodology
10
Applications, Safety and Regulation
- Oceanography and environmental observation
- Inspection of marine infrastructure
- Search and rescue
- Maritime surveillance
- Oil spill response
- Operational safety
- Cybersecurity of autonomous fleets
- IMO regulatory framework for autonomous ships
- Ethics of autonomous systems
- Industry trends
11
Master's Final Project: Simulated Multi-Vehicle Mission
- Defining the use case
- Selecting vehicles
- Designing the architecture
- Designing communications
- Navigation strategy
- Coordination algorithms
- Implementation in simulation
- Evaluating results
- Writing the dissertation
- Defence before a panel
Workload
Study Time and Workload
1500 hours of study, online and at your own pace. Move the slider to the hours a week you can really put in.
Hours a week8
Weeks to finish—
You finish around—
Who it is for
Telecoms, electrical, computer or naval engineers: who want to specialise in marine robotics Physics, maths or marine science graduates: with an interest in autonomous systems Professionals at robotics and marine technology firms: who develop autonomous vehicles Oceanographic research centre staff: who operate instrument fleets Maritime security professionals: who evaluate autonomous surve
Faculty
Academic direction and faculty
The teaching team at Navalis: working professionals who deliver and oversee the institute's programmes.
Eng. Diego Cifuentes
Cap. Javier Abaroa (MCA)
Dr. Pau Ferrer
Dr. Nuria Llobregat
Eng. Javier Bañuls
Eng. Sofía Marquina
Eng. Tomás Riera
Verified reviews
Student Reviews
Reviews collected and verified by Opynio, not written by us.
Outcomes
Learning Outcomes
- 01Understand autonomous marine vehicles
- 02Design communications and networks
- 03Apply cooperative navigation
- 04Implement distributed control
- 05Plan multi-vehicle missions
- 06Simulate and validate systems
Careers
Career Opportunities
01Multi-robot systems engineer: Designing architectures for marine fleets.
02Robotics software developer: Navigation and control algorithms in ROS 2.
03Autonomous vehicle operations engineer: Planning and running missions.
04Underwater communications specialist: Networks for vehicles and sensors.
05Marine robotics researcher: Projects at technology centres.
06Marine technology consultant: Evaluating autonomous solutions.
Questions
Entry Requirements
Yes, a programming background is recommended. The programme includes support in Python and ROS 2.
Most work is done in simulation; real tank and sea trials are analysed as case studies.
Coordinated fleets are in use, but large-scale swarms are still at the research and demonstration stage.
The focus is civil: science, inspection, safety and the environment.
Designing and simulating a mission with several coordinated marine vehicles.
100% online, with a virtual campus available 24/7, live sessions that are recorded, and tutorials with the teaching staff.
The programme involves 1500 hours of study. You can work at your own pace within the timetable we give you when you enrol.
Each programme has its own start date, shown on this page and confirmed by our admissions team when you enquire.
On completing the programme you receive the Master's in Marine Robot Swarms and Multi-Vehicle Systems qualification awarded by Navalis Magna Institute.
Online admissions
Admissions Process
No waiting for a phone call. If your documents are complete, you can pay in the same session.
Entry requirements
Academic/professional profile: A degree in engineering (telecommunications, electrical, computer, naval, electronic or similar), physics, mathematics or a related field; or proven professional experience in robotics or marine technology. Language: A good working level of English to follow classes and materials. Technical requirements: A computer with a stable internet connection, an up-to-date browser and a webcam for live sessions and project presentations. Admissions process: Online application, profile review and a short interview with the academic team. We confirm your start date whe
Questions?
Frequently Asked Questions
Leave your details and admissions will write back. If you already know this is the one, go straight to the application and pay in the same session.