What is MATE?

The MATE (Marine Advanced Technical Education) Competition is an underwater robotics competition in which students create remotely operated underwater vehicles (ROVs) which are capable of performing a variety of tasks. Teams work to design, build, and test ROVs to perform various tasks, through mechanical, electrical, and programming work, and take their finished ROV to competition.

For more information, see the official MATE website.

How does the MATE Competition work?

Each November, the MATE Competition releases a manual detailing the tasks that each team’s ROV must complete. MATE Teams construct ROVs to accomplish wide varieties of tasks, from object manipulation and signal sending, to autonomous navigation. Through mechanical, electrical, and software engineering, teams develop their ROVs over Winter and Spring quarter, before taking it to competition the following June.

What skills do students gain through MATE?

Through the MATE Competition, students gain experience in everything from mechanical design and fabrication, integrating electronic circuitry to drive each component, and developing software which controls and automates different aspects of the ROV. In addition, teams must also document design decisions, prototypes, and even budgets to be compiled into a robust technical documentation packet. These tasks give students a competitive edge in engineering, project design, management, testing, marketing, and more. Students gain experience on Slugbotics that no lecture hall can offer.

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2018-19 ROV: BIG SLAB