Case Study: TEAMTAO achieves autonomous deep‑sea swarm success with Altair simulation‑driven design

TEAMTAO Engineers the Future of Deep-Sea Exploration

TEAMTAO, a collaboration including Newcastle University and SMD, competed in the Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE to build a low-cost, CubeSat‑like swarm of subsea drones (BEMs and vertically swimming AUVs) and an autonomous surface catamaran to map the deep seafloor. To meet the challenge of reliably operating autonomously at depths up to 4 km with minimal prototyping, TEAMTAO engaged Altair as a technical design partner, leveraging Altair’s simulation expertise and the Altair HyperWorks™ suite for virtual testing.

Altair virtually tested the full system—structural, control and mechatronic subsystems—using tools such as Altair Radioss™, OptiStruct™, Activate® and Compose® and built a digital twin for virtual commissioning, reducing prototypes, physical tests and development time. As a result, TEAMTAO reached the XPRIZE grand final, successfully demonstrated an autonomous swarm mapping an area the size of Paris off Kalamata, and earned the $200,000 Moonshot Award, with simulations proving the design’s robustness at depth and accelerating design‑to‑prototype iterations.

TEAMTAO

Chris Wilkinson

Chief Technology Officer