The 2008 MATE ROV Challenge

Extreme fun mixed with a real engineering challenge. Tell a bunch of high school kids to build underwater remote operated vehicles (ROVs) that must be well enough designed and built to accomplish a specific mission. This is what the 2008 MATE International ROV Competition is all about. I was invited to help judge this year’s regional competition in Hilo, with teams coming from across the islands to compete. I was very glad I went! As an engineer it was very gratifying to see kids competing in a great engineering challenge, and not only trying but succeeding better than I would have expected. Most of the judging team was from the observatory, we put a dozen judges on the pool deck and were busy doing safety checks, engineering evaluations and judging the missions for most of a day. A lot of work, and a heck of a lot of fun.

The mission was well thought out, the goal was to “explore” a black smoker and gather samples, simulating a mission to a mid-ocean ridge hot spring just like those explored by real deep ocean ROVs in recent years. The smoker was a simple vertical PVC pipe anchored to the bottom of the pool blowing a warm stream of water out the top supplied by a garden hose. On its sides were velcroed rocks to be sampled. Scattered around were crabs made of PVC pipe caps and wire.

The ROVs themselves were beautiful examples of garage engineering. Constructions of PVC frames with cameras, motors and manipulators clamped and zip tied wherever needed. Wire everywhere to connect the various devices and run through an umbilical tether to the surface. At the drivers’ station a set of video monitors allowed the drivers to see what the rover’s cameras were seeing and various switches and controls allowed the ROVs to maneuver and capture their prey on the pool bottom sixteen feet below the surface.

Each ROV was inspected for safety, no dangerous wiring, the correct fuse, and no undue hazards for the pool environment. Not to say they were completely safe, powerful motors connected to propellers created unavoidable hazards. These could be mitigated by ensuring the motors were turned off once the ROV surfaced and it was to be grabbed with hands for recovery.

Ten points for correctly measuring the water temperature at the top of the smoker, ten points for rock samples, ten points for capturing a crab, another ten for a crab brought back to the surface. Each team had five minutes to set up, fifteen in the water to accomplish the mission, and five more to clear the range for the next team. To keep the drivers from seeing into the water a tarp was erected between them and the pool, they had to see only with their on-board video camera and navigate only with the images on the monitor, a real challenge! A team member or two would be stationed to handle the umbilical tether at poolside, but we had to caution them not to give any clues to the drivers.

Our team of judges from the observatory also providing three divers with full SCUBA gear to monitor and reset the ROV test range between each team of contestants. Mike, David and Tomas had their hands full keeping everything ready, and we used more than a few tanks of air. They did get a chance to take quite a few photos of everything and had one of the best views of the real action. From the surface the rovers were difficult to see in the rippled water and bubbles from the divers.

It was hard when things went very badly wrong. Four of the teams I judged in the mission section of the event suffered total technical failures, usually in the camera systems. Sometimes it was just bad luck, water leaking through a seal or a broken wire in the cable harness. Buoyancy was also a problem, as I witnessed one team’s rover drop straight to the bottom when released, no amount of coaxing could get it to rise again. The teams did struggle with poor wiring practices, no surprise with high school kids, spaghetti messes of unlabeled wiring adding to the confusion when trying to change a connection or find a failed camera. The errors were those expected of inexperience, but these kids were beginning the process of learning, and I expect some of those errors will not be repeated, lessons that will serve a lifetime.

One girl who was clearly the technical backbone of her team on the verge of tears when everything went dark on the monitors, she refused to give in and soldiered on until the timer ran out, trying to troubleshoot the video problem that blinded her team’s rover. As hard as it was for me to witness, it was also very impressive to watch her carry on. She was experiencing the type of real life lesson that is invaluable, the type of event our kids need to suffer more to become truly capable engineers and scientists. Failure teaches far better than success.

But there were two rounds, a chance to repair the failed components, bring back the pictures on the monitors, and try again. There were fewer technical failures in the second round and much higher scores, the gear worked, and rovers headed in for the grab with clear video showing the scene around the fake black smoker. Some of the teams were competing for the second year and experience showed. Lessons learned the previous year had been dealt with and the ROVs performed amazingly well.



Watching a well built and well piloted rover was amazing. They headed right for the targets, rocks and crabs appearing in the cameras as I watched over the operator’s shoulder. Some of the best teams used two operators to handle the controls, one operator on the maneuvering controls another operating the manipulator. They showed good coordination that belied a fair amount of practice handling their craft.



I was right in there rooting for them, watching with the best front row seat. I felt the same rush of victory as the contestants when the manipulator grabbed the crab and the claw held. I could put a few points on the score sheet as I shared their success, one crab captured, another in the basket, both worth ten points each if they get them to the surface. Victory was sweet for the kids, the well deserved result of long hours of work and a well designed ROV.

Win or lose all of these kids will reap the benefits for just competing. Getting in and getting your hands dirty is real engineering. Smell the solder smoke, mix a little epoxy, fry a component or two in the process or learning what it is to build and create a device that does something. These kids will carry with them lessons in what it is to design and build something real, an appreciation for what it is to be an engineer.

More photos as well as scores and awards!