Robotics team impresses maritime judges

Gallery • 4 Photos

The Sparkman Robotics team recently took a huge step forward in their competitions. Instead of running the same simulations that they always have, the team decided to take their skills to a new frontier ― underwater.

Recently at their first ever underwater competition, the robotics team placed third in Ranger division at the MATE ROV competition at Dauphin Island with their robot Triton. Seven students and teacher Rachael Simons competed against teams from Florida, Mississippi, Alabama and Missouri. Triton was made out of PVC pipe, acrylic prisms, electronics and several cameras for operators.

“Our experience with underwater robotics is just being able to provide opportunities to students that they typically wouldn’t have,” Simons said.

They were forced to perform four missions and were judged on their performance as well as overall outcome of all of the objectives. For example, one mission was to retrieve four mission-critical computers from a downed satellite based off of the serial numbers on the sides.

“We have to use our camera and go identify the mission critical CubeSat’s and we have to retrieve them,” sophomore Sam Lukins said.

The robotics team was interested by the idea of this competition for many reasons, but a major factor was the freedom they had in their designing.

“Our material constraints were very, very rare and very few. It was more of size and weight constraints and being able to perform the task [that mattered],” Simons said.
The team faced unexpected difficulties due to their location and the local geography.

“There are a lot of teams from up North from Massachusetts and Maine who are a lot closer to bodies of water that have more experience and more exposure. We are not near a beach,” Simons said.

The team has managed to bring together multiple corporate sponsors, including Brown Precision and HobbyTown USA to help further their capabilities next year.

“We have companies on board to support us next year … This allows us to 3D print our design instead of using PVC as a frame, allowing us to be more functional for something in the real world we have more diverse opportunity for technology and design,” Simons said.

The team is proud of their first ever performance at this competition and is looking forward to next year.

“The students learned a lot because a lot of us didn’t know what to expect going into this. It was a big challenge. Now that we have this experience under our belt, the kids are more prepared for next year and they have a better concept idea. Their design concepts are more realistic,” Simons said.