So you want to build a remotely operated vehicle (ROV)?
Today kicks off the 2024 MATE ROV Competition in beautifully rugged St. John’s, Newfoundland. Hosted by the Fisheries and Marine Institute of Memorial University, student engineering teams have designed their very own ROVs and will compete in the SCOUT and RANGER categories of this international competition.
Our very own John Omeljaniuk, SEAMOR Marine Mechanical Product Designer, is en route to assist in the event as a competition judge. In reflecting on his own experience designing and calibrating #ROVs, he mentioned a particular challenge that may not at first be obvious.
“Vehicle balance can be really tricky to manage. Most #ROVs operate slightly on either side of neutrally buoyant (slightly sink or slightly float). Getting to this state can require some fiddling,” Omeljaniuk says. “Additionally, underwater is an interesting environment to operate in because its (almost) true 3D space – an #ROV needs to be able to control its orientation as well as its motion. This is commonly done with strategic floats and weights to maintain a specific natural orientation, though controlled orientation is also possible.”
We look forward to hearing how the student engineering teams tackled this core design challenge. Join us in wishing good luck to all the teams taking part in the competition today!
#MATE2024 #teamwork #collaboration #corevalues #subseaengineering #Robotics #RoboticsEducation #STEM #oceanteach #marinetech #ROVolution