S.E.A.L Robotics gives members with an interest in STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) and Business / Marketing a chance to engage in real world scenarios to build skills and experience. 

We participate in a competition called MATE Robotics (Marine Advanced Technology Education).  This robotics competition requires teams to fund-raise, design, build, market, test, and compete with their "product", an underwater ROV (Remotely Operated Vehicle).  SEAL Robotics has recently advanced to compete the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center’s 2018 and 2019 World Championship ROV Competition.  At the Worldwide Competition, the SEAL Robotics team kids compete against more than 50 teams who have advanced from around the world, using an ROV that they designed and built from scratch.

SEAL Robotics Team was selected to advance by winning their regional competition, which is based on their design and implementation, as well as their technical documentation and the timed performance of their ROV executing a set of predefined underwater tasks. 

Our season begins in September and runs through June of each year.  While we do treat and run our team like a business, we also have fun team building activities.  Some of the things that we have done include building white water rafting, go-carts, and playing airsoft.  S.E.A.L Robotics members build real world skills in Engineering and Leadership roles. 

Our meeting schedule follows the MATE Robotics season, so it is generally less intense in the fall and winter, and then we meet more often and for longer times starting in March. 

We typically meet on Sunday afternoons from 2:00 pm until 5:00 pm September through February.  In March through May the as the Regional Competition approaches and as we get our ROV in the water for practices, the meeting length and meeting frequency will increase.  The spring is our busy season, preparing for and attending competitions.  We sometimes meet up to three times weekly in April and May.

Team Members are expected to work at home, outside of meetings on robotics team tasks as well.  If you have any questions on the team schedule or time requirements, please feel free to ask them at an open house meeting.

The MATE Center uses underwater robots – also known as remotely operated vehicles or ROVs – to teach Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM).  Working in partnership with the Marine Technology Society ROV Committee, MATE created the ROV competition as a way to:

• Engage students in STEM and expose them to science and technology careers
• Encourage students to develop and apply technical, teamwork, and problem-solving skills
• Provide funds, materials, and technical expertise to support student learning provide industry with skilled individuals who can fill workforce needs 

The MATE competition challenges K-12, community college, and university students from all over the world to design and build ROVs to tackle missions modeled after scenarios from the ocean workplace.  The competition’s class structure of beginner, intermediate, and advanced complements the education pipeline by providing students with the opportunity to build upon their skills – and the application of those skills – as they engineer increasingly more complex ROVs for increasingly more complex mission tasks.

The MATE competition requires students to think of themselves as “entrepreneurs” and transform their teams into companies that manufacture, market, and sell “products”.  In addition to engineering their ROVs, the students are required to prepare technical reports, poster displays, and engineering presentations that are delivered to working professionals who serve as competition judges.

Other MATE underwater robotics educational products include:

• Underwater Robotics: Science, Design, and Fabrication
• Knowledge and Skill Guidelines for prospective ROV professionals
• Curriculum and videos
• Workshops for teachers and students
• Internships for college students
• All levels of DIY Kits and free open source plans
• Microcontrollers for thrusters and sensors
• And much more!

Currently, instead of fielding a local team, SEAL Robotics is working closely with several beginning teams, helping them get started in MATE underwater robotics.

Please contact sealroboticsteam@gmail.com if you have questions.