Coastal Discovery Center at San Simeon Bay
ROV Competition Program
Monterey Regional Competition
Scout class / Ranger class - grades 6 thru 12
Explorer class – collegiate level

Next competition - Spring of 2008
tentative date is May 10th, 2008
(teams should form by mid fall 2007)

What is an ROV ?
Remotely Operated Vehicle's are unmanned tethered machines
that are designed for research and exploration of our oceans.
Their design allows operators to work without the concerns for
onboard power or life support, providing us with a practical, safe
and economically feasible method of deep underwater work.

About the Competition
The Marine Advanced Technology Education Center (MATE), yearly
sponsors an international competition to educate and inspire students
about marine technology. There are localized regional competitions and
an international event. All teams must compete in the regional event
with the winners moving on to the international event. Our regional
competition will be at Monterey Peninsula College in Monterey, Ca.
It is open to all  students grades 6-12 and collegiate.
There are no registration fees with either competition.
Post-graduate students are not allowed to compete but may be mentors.
The competition is designed to simulate real working situations and
challenges . The 2007 international event was in Newfoundland
and the 2008 event will be in San Diego.

The event is broken down into 3 categories:

'Scout class'
  • only available at the Monterey regional level
  • very basic, simplified designs
  • inexpensive entry level
  • ideal for grades 6-12

'Ranger class'
  • regional and international level
  • a little more complex designs utilizing cameras and tools
  • a little more costly and time consuming to design and build
  • ideal for all 9-12
  • collegiate teams competing for the first time are eligible

'Explorer class'
  • regional and international level
  • very complex engineered prototype designs
  • ideally collegiate level but high schoolers may participate
  • not available to middle school students

The competition consist of pool exercises as well as
engineering demonstrations to a panel of judges.
Teams at any level must consist of at least 3 students and at least
1 faculty member or adult advisor. All teams must be affiliated with a
school or home-school program. Faculty and advisors are limited to
educational and inspirational support. Students must perform all actual
design and construction of the vehicle. Only one team per instructor are
eligible but up to 3 teams per school per class may participate.
Two teams per instructor will be considered as long as 1 team represents
a high school and one team represents a college or university.
Mentors are outside technical advisors from industry, businesses,
research organizations and/or government and may assist during
design and building, but are limited to technical guidance.

The MATE center in Monterey will hold several free workshops
for educators and students to assist in the design and
construction of your ROV.

For more information or to start a team, please contact:
Hunter Kilpatrick
e-mail: rov@coastaldiscoverycenter.org
phone (805) 772-7501      (805) 927-6575
or go to www.marinetech.org