A Darker View

Giving kids a chance to experiment and learn is critical in developing creative minds. To build something with their own hands, to learn what works, and what does not, a chance to realize they can take on the challenge and succeed. Good hands-on learning is often sorely lacking in modern childhood. You have to make an extra effort to give kids the chance. Enter the MATE Underwater ROV Competition, a simple and exciting challence to give students that chance.

The mission this year was based on last year's Deepwater Horizon drilling platform explosion that became one of worst environmental disasters in history. The goal was to install a "top kill" device in a simulated wellhead. It was necessary to remove a section of damaged piping, turn a valve, install the top-kill device, and gather biological samples from near the wellhead.

As usual the wellhead was merely a construction of PVC pipe in the bottom of a swimming pool, there was no actual oil involved, and the only creatures endangered were made from pipe cleaners, PVC and screws. But it was still a challenging mission, one of the toughest in the competition to date.

Controlling a craft made of PVC pipe, bilge pump motors and zip ties is not easy. The operators must steer by the view in the ROV's cameras simulating what the operator of a real ROV would see in a real mission. It isn't easy! There is often no way to tell that the umbilical line is tangled around the rear propeller, or that the target you are looking for is just out of view to the side. The teams peer at the monitors, attempting to make sense of the images while mashing the controls to send the ROV across the pool bottom in search of the goal.

The ROV's are equipped with the tools necessary to accomplish the mission. from manipulators to pressure sensors and water sampling devices, whatever the teams dream up to do the task. This is where the real creativity occurs. While the ROV's have become somewhat standard in several years of competitions, PVC pipe frames with bilge pump motors. The tools have to change each year to meet the demands of the mission. This year there were manipulator arms that twisted for that challenging valve or critter catchers that consisted of a motorized broom of zip ties sweeping the specimens into a capture basket. To sense depth there were scuba gauges monitored by cameras, electronic pressure sensors with basting bulb housings, or simple syringes with calibrated marks down the side.

This year I judged the engineering presentations. It is not enough to simply perform the mission in the pool. There are technical reports on each ROV, posters and an oral presentation, all contributing to the final score.

There are several classes in the competition. While the Ranger and Explorer class have more stringent rules, the scout class, designed for younger contestants features simpler craft and a somewhat less challenging mission. Gone are the camera systems, operators merely watch from above in the shallow end of the pool. But still, I was impressed by the teams, showing up some of the older teams. Scout rovers swooped through the course, closing the valve and scooping up a pile of biological specimens.

This was my fourth year volunteering as a judge for the regional competition. As fun as this day was I expect to volunteer again next year, I love seeing just what the kids will come up with. I did my turn at grading the engineering presentations this year, next year I will insist on grading the missions poolside, it is great to watch the teams perform from a ringside seat.