In this paper we describe our experience with the 1st International Underwater Robot Open Competition and the Advanced Individual Studies course that we created to support our students' participation in the competition. We begin by briefly describing the background and history of the competition. We then discuss the prior collaboration between the United States Military Academy (USMA) and Peking University that led to USMA's participation in the competition. Within this discussion of the collaboration, we also include representative funding and budget considerations. Understanding of the Advanced Individual Studies course created to support the competition would not be complete without an introduction to the robotic platform involved. Therefore, that section is presented next. Following this discussion, we present a general description of Advanced Individual Studies in Electrical Engineering (EE489) at USMA and then discuss the specific EE489 course created to support participation in the competition. We then describe our students' experiences during the trip to a foreign country and during the competition itself. Finally, we present our conclusions and lessons learned during the process.
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