ROVs to the Rescue in Underwater Robot Competition

On May 1-2, teams of local high school students will be rescuing a submarine at the Marine Institute in the Marine Advanced Technology Education Center's (MATE) 2009 Newfoundland and Labrador Regional ROV Competition

Thursday, April 30, 2009

This year’s competition will challenge students to design, build and pilot a remotely operated vehicle or ROV that functions as a submarine rescue system.

Eighteen high schools from across the province will compete in this year’s regional event:

• Appalachia High School
• Ascension Collegiate High School
• Botwood Collegiate
• Carbonear Collegiate
• Clarenville High School
• Discovery Collegiate High School
• Elwood Regional High School
• Gonzaga Regional High School
• Heritage Collegiate
• Holy Spirit High School
• Lakewood Academy
• Marystown Central High School
• Mount Pearl Senior High School
• O'Donel High School
• Pasadena Academy
• St. James Regional High
• St. Lawrence Academy
• Stephenville High School

The focus of this year’s competition is a submarine rescue training exercise where teams pilot their ROVs to inspect the submarine for damage, deliver emergency supplies, and replenish the onboard air supply, among other tasks. In addition to the underwater mission, teams will prepare technical reports, poster displays, and engineering presentations that describe their vehicles and how they function.

Local marine technology professionals volunteer as judges for the competition, evaluating the students’ ROVs, poster displays, and engineering presentations. The 1st and 2nd place teams overall in the regional competition will advance to the international contest, taking place June 24 – 26 at the Massachusetts Maritime Academy (MMA) in Buzzards Bay, Massachusetts.

Teams from this province have excelled at the international competition. The Eastern Edge Robotics Team won the competition in 2005, 2006 and 2008. Heritage Collegiate from Lethbridge were recognized in 2008 for their innovative and original ROV design and placed second in the Ranger class in 2007.

The public are invited to view the competition live from the Marine Institute’s Flume Tank viewing area, on Saturday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Free parking is available. The media are also encouraged to send representatives to the opening reception at the Marine Institute, Friday, May 1 at 6:00 pm where the Honourable Shawn Skinner, Minister of Innovation, Trade and Rural Development, Mr. Jerry Byrne, president, D.F. Barnes Group, Mr. Brent M. Fischer, ExxonMobil and Mr. Glenn Blackwood, executive director, Marine Institute will speak.

The event will conclude with an Awards Banquet on Saturday at 5:30 p.m. at the Marine Institute’s cafeteria.

The 2009 MATE Newfoundland and Labrador Regional ROV Competition is organized by the Marine Institute and supported by local sponsors, including the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, DF Barnes Group, ExxonMobil, Husky Energy and Marport. The Newfoundland and Labrador event is one of 16 regional competitions held by the MATE Centre across Canada, the United States, Hong Kong and Scotland. Supported by the National Science Foundation’s MATE Center and the Marine Technology Society (MTS) ROV Committee, the ROV competition encourages students to develop science, technology, engineering, and math skills by showing them real-world applications of these subjects.