The Underwater Robotics Club was started in the fall of 2004 by Electrical and Computer Engineering undergraduates at NC State. During its first year, the club worked with a local robotics company, Vortex HC, LLC, to build a competition vehicle for the 2005 AUVSI Autonomous Underwater Vehicle competition in San Diego. This vehicle, dubbed Seawolf I, could perform acrobatic tricks like flips, barrel rolls and spins and turned many heads at the competition. The vehicle was featured in several magazines including Robot Magazine, Make, and Servo. Unfortunately, Seawolf I suffered electrical problems during the last days of practice and was unable to qualify for the final competition round.

In 2005, the club began work on a new vehicle, Seawolf II, which it debuted at the 2006 AUVSI competition. Seawolf II ranked 9th place overall out of 21 teams, and ranked 3rd in craftsmanship. After making several improvements to this vehicle over the 2006-2007 school year, the team brought Seawolf II to the AUVSI competition for its second time. This year, the team is taking Seawolf one generation further with Seawolf III.

The club encompasses several engineering disciplines including electrical engineering, computer science, and mechanical engineering and is primarily affiliated with the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at NCSU. The club is funded by a variety of industry and university sponsors. In 2007, the club was given its own lab space in Burlington Hall by Dr. John Muth, an advisor to the club.

Since it started, the club has grown from just a few members to over twenty regular members. Many alumni from the club have gone on to get great jobs and graduate school appointments.