It was still a bit unsure if I could go, but on the first of August I arrived in Trondheim. First a few days in quarantine and then exploring the city and my new home. I had sublet a room in a student house shared with five Norwegians. They introduced me to the city by bringing me to (introduction-)activities and the forest Bymarka.

An important reason to choose for Trondheim, is the research on submarine robotics. Autonomous underwater snake robots can be used for inspection and maintenance of pipes and dams, for example. Also for archaeological and climate research, it can be an efficient solution. The robots are complex nonlinear systems and the position of the head can be achieved with an infinite amount of configurations (body positions). Therefore I designed a controller that explores different tasks. The most important task is steering the head, while the other tasks give energy efficiency and stability.

To integrate in the Norwegian student culture, I joined the student symphony orchestra. With Symforch, we gave two performances during the student festival UKA that is held every two years. The first concert, there were 4000 people in the audience and we played well-known film music and other classics. The orchestra is part of Studentersamfundet (student community), where parties and other activities are organized in the distinctive red building. The rehearsals in Norwegian were a bit challenging at the start, but I met lots of fun new people via Samfundet, so I would recommend it to anyone!

Symforch is going on a concert trip to the Netherlands in June (tickets via ESMG Quadrivium)

I also enjoyed the friluftsliv (outdoor life) in Norway. Together with some international students, I went cross country skiing for the first time and on cabin trips. I also explored my hobby kayaking, where we stayed in a farm from the 1600s.