Kelly Cooper, left, a program officer at the Office of Naval Research, talks with Ugo Conti, center right, a developer of the wave adaptive modular vessel variant, at the inaugural Maritime RobotX Challenge during the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems Internationals Unmanned Systems 2013 conference and exhibition at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center in Washington, D.C., Aug. 13, 2013. Contis vessel was used at the conference.