Seawolves to compete in international robotics competition for eighth time

Co-Lin’s Seawolf Underwater Robotics Engineering (S.U.R.E) team will travel to Kingsport, Tennessee for the international ROV competition hosted by Marine Advanced Technical Education (MATE). Members of the Seawolves, as they are affectionately called, met twice a week to design and manufacture an underwater robot during the 2018-2019 academic year. The team spent countless hours ensuring the robot satisfied strict standards to qualify for the international contest.

This is the eighth year the Seawolves have participated in the competition and the 18^th year MATE has hosted it. The team is hoping to continue a history of excellence at the competition, as they placed fourth in the nation in 2015, eighth in 2016, and ninth in 2017. This year the event is being held at the Kingsport Aquatics Center and the theme is “Innovations for Inshore: ROV Operations in Rivers, Lakes, and Dams” in Eastern Tennessee. The missions the robot must complete will be performed in an Olympic-size pool housed in the Aquatics Center in front of a panel of judges. The ROV must be able to perform all tasks.

MATE promotes science and environmental education, encouraging students to build underwater ROVs that are eco-friendly and can positively impact the oceans. Not only must students demonstrate the competency of their ROV through specific missions, they are also required to market them. Each team is required to give a presentation on why their ROV is the best choice for completing the missions and have a board to display technical documentation.

The Seawolves is open to all Co-Lin students and is an opportunity to gain skills in machining, CAD, electronics, engineering, and marketing. Co-Lin is the only community college in the state that has an underwater robotics team.

The team would like to thank Brookhaven Country Club for allowing them to use their pool for practice. The Seawolves are also grateful for the financial support of sponsors Tim Jones, Georgia Pacific Monticello, and Copiah-Lincoln Community College.

To learn more about MATE and the International Robotics Competition visit www.marinetech.org/rov-competition/. For more information about the Co-Lin Robotics team contact mentor Dr. Kevin McKone at kevin.mckone@colin.edu. Follow the Seawolves at competition by liking their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/colinseawolves/.