Team Atlantis, Inc. took fourth place at the MATE PNW Regional Challenge in its first attempt at the high school level of the underwater robotics competition. The event took place at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatic Center in Federal Way earlier this month.
The South Whidbey team consists of five students in grades five through eight, who glowed with pride after achieving such a high placement in the technical and competitive “Ranger” division with their Remote Operated Vehicle (ROV) “Pollo Loca.”
“Fun isn’t the word for it: Thrilling, chaotic, stressful, amazing, speedy and continuously joyous are the simplest way of putting all the feelings together to even come close to what all the teams were feeling during the competition,” gushed team member Haley McConnaughey, 11.
The team had two timed sessions to attempt to make its submerged ROV maneuver through a series of mission tasks to earn points in the pool portion of the contest. Then the team was judged on the oral presentation of its ROV’s engineering and design, as well as the sophistication and detail of its descriptive ROV project poster.
“They did so well that it was only the margin of a couple points here and there (out of 600) that kept them from placing third,” said Ashley McConnaughey, a mother of two team members.
“It was the crab,“ said Jake Papritz, 12, speaking about one of the imitation biological specimens the team was required to collect during the mission.
Jake’s fellow teammate, Steven Wilson, 11, explained.
“We almost had it to the surface in our ROV’s manipulator (claw) and the crab twisted and dropped to the bottom of the pool. We almost had those points!”
Poolside, the team’s ROV drew attention for the wealth of sponsor logos adorning the craft’s PVC pipe structure.
The ROV was named “Pollo Loca” by the team’s official sponsor, Grey Chicken DesignWorks. The back of the team’s T-shirts were adorned with the logos of the sponsors: Nichols Brothers Boat Builders, Les Schwab, Whidbey Dive Center, Island Athletic Club, Casey’s Crafts, Linds Jewelry, Ace Hardware, Columbia Virtual Academy and Blue Fox Prints.
When asked if Team Atlantis, Inc. will return to the MATE Regional Competition next year, the answer was decidedly positive.
“Definitely! Next year we’ll make some changes, like making the drive lines more sturdy and reliable,” said team captain Christopher Wilson, 14.
“We’ll have more time available to work on perfecting the ROV’s design since we learned about hydraulic pistons and electrical wiring already this year.”
Team Atlantis, Inc.’s chosen marketing director and “spokesmodel,” Hannah McConnaughey, 14, said, “The whole experience was 100 percent incredible. The fact that we’re a middle school team and placed higher than eight teams of high schoolers … well, we’re only going to get better. Watch out, world.”
