The 2014 MATE ROV Big island Regional

This is the seventh year I have travelled to Hilo to help out. The seventh year of watching students attempt a difficult mission of the bottom of a swimming pool. The 2014 MATE ROV Regional competition was held Saturday, May 11th at the Hilo High School pool.

The mission this year is to explore a Great lakes shipwreck. As usual the “shipwreck” is made of PVC pipe, shade cloth and other hardware store parts. By measuring the wreck and discovering various features the identity of the ship could be determined. The robots are also built with hardware store parts, most with frames of PVC pipe. Interestingly there was a notable presence of parts manufactured with laser cutters and 3D printing this year. It is great to see these technologies making their way into educational programs, giving students unprecedented power to design and create.

Some teams did quite well. I was impressed by the professionalism and dedication it took to build and operate the ROV’s. Teams travelled from neighbor islands to compete in Hilo, raising the funds for plane tickets and to ship the ROV’s they had created. Besides the underwater activities the teams must also make presentations and supply technical reports that are also scored.

It takes a lot of work to properly judge the competition. I have noted that the rules and scoresheets just keep getting longer every year. I must tip my hat to the folks that make this competition happen every year, giving the kids a chance for invaluable experience.

Who won? Not really that important, even failure in the pool results in learning, even if the lessons are uncomfortable. The students will take that experience forward in life.