Underwater ROVs - Remotely Operated Vehicles

Design, build, pilot, and Investigate.

Overview

The Underwater ROV program brings engineering design, teamwork, piloting skill, and mission-based problem-solving together in a highly engaging format. Students build and operate remotely operated vehicles to complete underwater tasks while learning buoyancy, propulsion, control, troubleshooting, and mission strategy. We work with The Marine Technology Society and their world renowned MATE program. The program provides expandable educational opportunities (content and depth adaptable by age) from elementary school through college level opportunities for students to design, build, operate and explore the world of ocean science and robotics.

What students do

• Design, build and assemble actual ROV systems and understand the function of motors, propellers, frames, tether, switches, and buoyancy elements.

• Hands-on Testing and operation of propulsion, ROV control, and balance in water.

• Pilot missions such as object recovery, placement tasks, environmental observation, or structured challenge courses.

• Work in teams with rotating roles such as pilot, tether manager, observer, and mission specialist.

• Iterate after testing and improve design or piloting strategy.

What students learn

• Engineering is iterative: design, test, learn, improve.

• Control, stability, buoyancy, and propulsion are learned best through direct hand-on experience.

• Challenge-based missions create powerful motivation for problem-solving and resilience.

• Team roles matter in complex technical tasks. Success at anything requires a diversity of skills, viewpoint and collaboration.