UCSI teams make a splash at underwater robotics tournament

Four underwater remote-operated vehicle (ROV) design teams comprised of ninth graders from UCSI earned honors at both regional and statewide tournaments this spring.

The regional event was held March 15 at Oakland University by Square One Education Network. The state contest on May 17 was conducted in Alpena, Michigan by Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in partnership with the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center.

The UCSI freshman teams (known as CSIunderwater2T) competed in the Underwater Innovative Vehicle Design Challenge that included vehicle performance, engineering and craftsmanship, design innovation, ambassadorship and presentation categories.

The student-built ROVs were put through their paces to recover items from the bottom of a swimming pool, complete a biathlon-style retrieval race and navigate a series of poles that resembled long and high jumps. The teams also participated in a fun drag race, where one of the UCSI robots just missed qualifying for the finals.

Two of the four UCSI freshman teams placed highly in this competition, with one team winning second place awards for both technical presentation and engineering design. The only all-female UCSI team brought home a Square One first place award, given to the team demonstrating the best sportsmanship.

In addition, the UCSI Technical Underwater Robotic Research and Engineering Team (T.U.R.R.E.T.) notched its seventh year of MATE competition, one of its best. Comprised of upperclassmen, T.U.R.R.E.T. is known in ROV circles as the innovative design team for outside-of-the-box thinking.

Working within a theme based on Michigan’s very own “Shipwreck Alley” at Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary, competing teams guided their ROVs to determine a type of ship, record depth, measure objects, scan sensors and much more. The T.U.R.R.E.T. students also gave officials a technical presentation on their vehicle, “Jellyfish.”