News
Monday, June 19, 2023
Memorial’s Eastern Edge Robotics team is looking to secure another international victory at the 2023 MATE International ROV Competition, hosted from June 22-24.
Eastern Edge will compete with teams from around the world in Longmont, CO to pilot their remotely operated vehicle (ROV) through a series of tasks. The competition is organized by the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center.
The theme for this year’s event is UN Decade of the Ocean: Diving in to Inspire Solutions Because Together Opportunity Runs Deep. The event will focus on motivating the global community to embrace environmental, social, and governance efforts for a sustainable future.
ROV Design
This year, the team has designed the ROV Caribou, named after the SS Caribou, a passenger and train ferry that was lost during the Second World War.
The ROV is made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) that the team manufactured through CNC milling. Caribou is sustainably designed, using thrusters and lights from their 2022 ROV, as well as an updated profiling float using much of the same materials as last year.
Additionally, the ROV is equipped with a fish deploying basket, a pump for collecting water samples, and a light structure to simulate UV that can be used for curing coral. The team designed the entire electrical system. It also has a completely customizable control center, meaning the pilot can change settings based on their preferences.
World champions
Eastern Edge Robotics has been awarded the top prize at the international ROV competition four times—most recently in 2016.
At the 2022 competition, Eastern Edge placed third overall and was awarded Best Engineering presentation in their category.
This year’s team is composed of 26 post-secondary students studying at the Marine Institute and Memorial University. The team will compete in the EXPLORER division at the competition; against 25 other world-champion qualifier teams.
Sixteen members of the team will be travelling to the competition.
NL high school teams
Two teams of high school students from Newfoundland and Labrador will also be attending the international competition. Students from Mount Pearl Senior High and Labrador Straits Academy will be competing in the RANGER class.
Eight students from Mount Pearl Senior High will be attending the competition. Their ROV, ROVER, is custom-built by the team and features six propulsion motors, three cameras, and a pneumatic claw. This will be the first international competition for most members of the team—as well as both team mentors.
This will be the first international competition for all students from Labrador Straits Academy. The regional competition in May was their first regional competition. Ten members of the team will travel to the competition. Their ROV, Great White 1, is designed to be user-friendly and utilizes medical syringes to operate the claw and water sampler.
Both teams qualified for the competition after placing first and second at the regional competition—held at the Marine Institute on May 5 and 6.
The competition will be live streamed on June 22-24 on Twitch.
Eastern Edge Robotics team
The 2023 Eastern Edge Robotics team consists of 26 members.
From the Marine Institute: Alexander Kennedy and Winston Hoffman. From the Faculty of Engineering and Applied Science: Stephen Fudge, Martha Snelgrove, Stefan Boon-Petersen, Timothy Squires, Russell Corbett, Zachary Bennett, Shane Tetford, Logan Smith, Cameron Shea, Mark Johnson, Bedir Acar, Devon Tobin, Eric Goulding, Sarthak Srivastava, Joshua Deering, Michael O’Connor, Leo Gilbert, Evan Vokey, Aaron Oates, Abdul Turonov, Jessie Ball, and Zaid Duraid. From the Faculty of Arts: Jadiza Penney. From the Faculty of Science: Ethan Denny.
