Mobula is Dialga's next autonomous surface vessel — designed, built and tested by students for the 2027 season. A companion drone launches from the deck to scout ahead, giving Mobula an aerial view of the course and the obstacles the hull alone can't see.
Dialga is a student engineering team that designs, builds and races autonomous surface vessels. Mobula is the team's next boat — a new hull, a new autonomy stack, and a fresh problem to solve: giving the vessel a view beyond what its own sensors can see at the waterline.
Every system carries lessons forward from Ligmax, the team's previous vessel. Mobula keeps what worked, rebuilds what didn't, and adds a capability Ligmax never had — eyes in the air.
Mobula is being engineered as a complete platform — hull, propulsion, autonomy and communications built in-house and tested by the team ahead of the 2027 season.
A lightweight composite hull built for the 2027 season, driven by an electric propulsion system tuned for endurance and low-speed precision maneuvering.
Onboard sensors — cameras, GNSS and inertial measurement — feed a planning and control stack that keeps Mobula on course and reacting to obstacles in real time.
A shore-side console streams telemetry, video and drone footage live, so the team can monitor every run and step in if the mission calls for it.
What sets Mobula apart from Ligmax is what flies above it. A dedicated onboard drone gives the vessel an aerial perspective — helping it see where it's going, not just what's immediately in front of it.
Launched from the deck, the drone climbs above Mobula to give the autonomy stack a wide-angle view of the course, the shoreline and obstacles well before they're in range of onboard sensors.
Aerial video and position data stream straight back to Mobula and the ground station, feeding into the same planning loop that steers the vessel.
The drone is being developed alongside the vessel itself, not bolted on after — it's core to how Mobula is meant to navigate.
Hull design, autonomy architecture and drone integration finalized.
Hull layup, propulsion install and first electronics bring-up.
In-water trials for the vessel and drone, independently and together.
Mobula launches for its first competition season.
Mobula is built by students across engineering disciplines, working the same way the vessel operates — hull, autonomy and drone teams in constant sync.
Meet Dialga ↗Dialga is student-run and student-funded. Partners get a real stake in the build — not just a logo.
Your logo on the hull, the drone and everywhere the team competes.
Shop visits, demos and a direct line to the engineering team.
Direct access to students working hands-on with autonomy, drones and marine systems.
