Battle of the underwater robots

Eastern Edge Robotics to compete at international engineering competition

By Jonathan Comeau

The Eastern Edge Robotics team is preparing to go toe to toe with an active volcano in the middle of the Pacific Ocean – well, sort of. The team includes 18 Memorial students who will travel to a tropical paradise for an engineering showdown inspired by Loihi, an underwater volcano 35 km off the coast of Hawaii’s Big Island. Beginning June 24, an angry volcano will be the least of the team’s worries.

The Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Center, based in Monterey, California, coordinates an annual remotely operated vehicle (ROV) competition that will draw over 40 teams from around the globe all vying for top prize. For Eastern Edge to take home gold, they’ll have to outperform teams from MIT, UCLA, City University of Hong Kong, as well as all the other talented students with a passion for underwater robots.
The team has been working since December on the design and implementation of their ROV, which will be judged on its ability to the complete specific tasks. Although the challenges will take place in the controlled underwater environment provided by a chlorinated pool, the tasks center around the exploration of everything an underwater volcano has to offer.

One task is to collect samples of a possible new species of crustacean that was spotted in a cave on Loihi. Teams will have to maneuver their ROVs to the back of a model cave, capture the new species of sightless crustacean, and return the creatures to the surface. “This year’s mission tasks are probably the most difficult to date,” said Tom Donovan, one of the team’s mentors.

Teams will also have to sample the iron-oxidizing bacteria (simulated with a container of agar) that thrive on the venting fluid of Loihi, giving the volcano an orange-coloured surface.

Eastern Edge Robotics has participated in MATE’s ROV competition since 2005. The 2009 team received a portion of its $50,000 budget from MUN’s Faculty of Engineering, the Marine Institute, and the Faculty of Science. Details of the team’s design are closely guarded, but judging from past performance, this year’s ROV is sure to be a robotic juggernaut. The team finished seventh last year in Buzzards Bay, MA with its submarine rescue vehicle, Chimaera.

In 2008, they blew the competition out of the water in San Diego, CA to take first place overall with their ROV Pontus, matching their first place finishes in 2005 and 2006. They also placed second when the competition was held on home soil in St. John’s in 2007. “The Eastern Edge Robotics team has had great success at this annual international competition and I am certain we will be very competitive again this year,” said Donovan. Closer to home, a MATE Newfoundland and Labrador regional ROV competition that brings together high school students from across the province to encourage science and engineering is scheduled for April 30 in the flume tank at the Marine Institute. The competition is supported by local sponsors.

For more information about Eastern Edge Robotics and their ROVs, visit www.easternedgerobotics.com.

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