Underwater Robotics: MATE League

Seattle Academy's Underwater Robotics team participates in the annual MATE (Marine Advanced Technology Education) contest which simulates many real-world aquatic challenges through a series of tasks. Blueshift Robotics designs and constructs Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) to complete these tasks in new and innovative ways. In the 2020-21 competition “Blueshift Robotics” advanced to World Championship; which went swimmingly as we placed in the top 10 telepresence teams! In 2023 “Triton Robotics” took home first place in the Navigator Division of MATE.

Classes of MATE Seattle Academy Competes In:

Scout Class: Middle School (Beginner)
Navigator Class: Middle School (Advanced)
Ranger Class: Upper School

Some challenges we have faced in the past are:

Locating the wreckage of a vintage airplane and returning its engine to the surface.
Installing and recovering a seismometer.
Installing a tidal turbine and instrumentation to monitor the environment.
Transplanting coral fragments.

The team practices several times per week during Winter and Spring Trimester, learning principles of buoyancy, fluid power, water-proof electronics design, coding, design, prototyping, fabrication, and testing to produce a working robot that can solve the competition tasks. In addition, the team learns best practices in product management and team dynamics. The season is a bit longer than that of “Redshift Robotics” and less competition focused which opens the door for more student driven projects.

While every team member is involved in multiple aspects of the project, each member works on subprojects, such as budgeting, marketing, electronics, chassis design, and documentation. There are roles for both engineering and business-focused team members. Project leaders are elected by the team and the work is done entirely by students (with mentor supervision).

While the team is competitive in the Northwest Region, this program is intended to welcome all enthusiastic participants regardless of experience level. In Blueshift Robotics, the world is your oyster.

meet our underwater robotics faculty

league and competitions

Follow @blueshiftrobotics2020 on Instagram

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Previous MATE competition challenges include:

Locating the wreckage of a vintage airplane and returning its engine to the surface.
Installing and recovering a seismometer.
Installing a tidal turbine and instrumentation to monitor the environment.
Transplanting coral fragments.

Seattle Academy competes in the following MATE Classes:

Recent Awards and Accomplishments

2022-2023

1st Place in the Navigator Division. “Triton Robotics” composed of 8th graders.
2nd Place in the Scout Division. The “Hammerheads” composed of 6th & 7th graders.

2020-2021

World Championship

Finished in top 10 teams

2018-2019

Regional Tournament

Finished in top 5 teams

Underwater Robotics at SAAS FAQ

What’s the difference between the FTC Robotics club (Red Shift) and Underwater Robotics (Blue Shift)?

Red Shift (which we refer to as “terrestrial robotics”) participates in an event (FRC) that involves working with and against other teams to win games. Blue Shift focuses on a practical problem that teams attempt to solve with their design. While the event is judged and scored based on the team’s success in solving the problems, our robot is never in head-to-head competition against other robots. The underwater aspect also adds a significant level of difficulty to the design problem for Blueshift Robotics. Team members must take a deeper dive into engineering concepts due to the added complexity of performing underwater given that the robot must be able to maintain neutral buoyancy and stability while working several meters under water to solve the competition tasks.