New Wave Media

 

The contest’s top winners will travel to Houston to compete against the winning teams of other regional MATE international ROV competitions, June 23 to 25 at NASA’s Johnson Space Center Neutral Buoyancy Lab.

 

The students are preparing for journeys to the depths of the Earth’s oceans and the farthest reaches of Europa, one of the moons of the planet Jupiter. The teams from local elementary, middle school, high school and home school students are competing in an underwater robotics competition focused on the use of technologies used for ocean and space science and exploration.

 

This year’s competition highlights technologies that are developed for exploration and scientific use in both ocean and space environments. For example, in the ocean-themed missions, students will use their ROVs to turn a decommissioned oil rig into an artificial reef and collect oil samples and coral specimens. The space-based missions challenge students to pilot their ROVs under the ice sheet of Jupiter’s moon Europa to collect data and deploy instrumentation. 

 

Schools participating include: Washington Middle, Nanaikapono Elementary, Radford, Castle High, Highland Intermediate and Pearl City High, Leilehua High, Kailua High and St. John Vianney. 

 

Local marine technology professionals volunteer as competition judges. The MATE Oahu Regional Competition is one of 26 regional contests held around the world and managed by the MATE Center.