Corpus Christi students are causing a stir in the field of underwater robotics.

Underwater robotics programs provide students with the opportunity to design and engineer robots to advance science and explore the oceans.

There are several underwater robotics teams at Corpus Christi ISD, including Moody High School, Cunningham Middle School in South Park, and Baker Middle School.

As college kids get their feet wet on the field, Moody’s team competed internationally last week in the 2022 MATE World Championship.

Moody High School

To make it to the MATE World Championship, the Moody “Aquabot Technicians” team had to qualify at a regional competition in Alabama this spring. They won first place.

“We were really nervous; we didn’t know what we were getting into,” said Jaziel Gonzalez, who graduated this year. “All eyes were on us.”

Although the Moody’s team has competed internationally before, some of the knowledge that could typically be learned through experience and passed down from upper classes to lower classes has been lost due to the pandemic.

This year, half a dozen sophomores made the trip to California.

“That’s really the main reason we decided to bring them in,” Gonzalez said. “As we didn’t have that experience, we struggled. Having them here really lets them know what to expect with this competition in the years to come.”

Coming into the competition is daunting, Gonzalez said Tuesday from California.

“Every team here has earned their place, just like us,” he said. “Each of us is hoping to win, to do really well.”

Gonzalez said he first heard of the team during his freshman year.

“I heard the team was traveling and doing some cool stuff,” Gonzalez said.

So he joined the team in the second year.

He plans to pursue an electrical engineering degree at the University of Texas at San Antonio in the fall and hopes to have more opportunities in underwater robotics.

He enjoys the problem-solving aspect of the team. Gonzalez described how sometimes the team hits a snag and can spend 20 minutes thinking before discovering a solution in a crisis of inspiration.

“It helps you develop critical thinking,” Gonzalez said.

The team designed a robot to perform several underwater tasks, such as replacing underwater wiring, identifying fish and coral reefs, and measuring a shipwreck.

“The idea behind engineering is to try to make our environment easier for human beings,” said Professor Mario Bayarena. “So, in other words, instead of a diver having to dive to perform all of these tasks underwater, we’re designing a robot that can perform them without endangering human life underwater.”

Teams come to MATE from all over the United States and around the world.

“There are teams from Singapore, Egypt, Japan,” Bayarena said. “These teams, they are tough, let me tell you.”

In the past, the Moody team has ranked in the middle of the pack. One year, the team won an award for being “the most feisty”.

“Moody did well, you know – they recognize who we are when we show up,” Bayarena said.

Bayarena said part of the focus this year is preparing the subclasses for next year with the goal of building the squad.

Engineering skills aren’t the only things students take away from competing, Bayarena said.

“They socialize and understand that we’re all on the same team to make the world a better place,” he said. “Students can literally see students from other countries working on the same task with a different type of robot or a different type of design, and when they come together they share ideas.”

Baker High School

While Moody’s students participated in international competitions, another group of CCISD students learned the basics of underwater robotics.

Unrelated to Team Moody, Baker Middle School has offered underwater robotics as an extracurricular opportunity since 2018.

Last week, a handful of students got together for an underwater robotics summer camp.

“They started from scratch,” said teacher Priscilla Fernandez. “They learned to solder. They worked on closed circuits. They worked on connecting cameras. They have a hydraulic clamp.”

Seth DeSilva and Deaton Trodden will be in sixth grade at Baker Middle School next year. They attended camp this week and hope to join the underwater robotics team.

“It gives me the opportunity to learn something new, and it’s actually pretty fun here,” DeSilva said.

On Friday, the middle schoolers were about to complete two robots, contraptions of PVC pipes, wires and propellers.

The room smelled of burnt plastic as 11-year-olds practiced welding. In the corner, a 3D printer was producing parts.

“We have a 25-foot tie that has 18-gauge wires that are red, white, blue, green, black that connect to our motor wires,” Trodden said.

“They’ve been doing this for a week,” Fernandez said as Trodden finished a detailed description of the robot’s wiring. “Monday was the first time they were introduced to all of this.”

Middle school students have plenty of ideas for real-life applications for underwater robotics.

“There are a lot of robots out there that clean up trash from the ocean, but I want to find one that actually goes down to the depths of the ocean and searches for sinking trash,” DeSilva said.

Trodden has another idea: a robot to help you fish.

“Just have a house on the ocean and bring in fish every day that you can cook,” Trodden said.

Eighth grader Ava Martinez has a little more experience. She will be the CEO of Team Baker in the fall.

“That’s what the MATE contest is for,” Martinez said. “To see what ROVs (remote control vehicles) professional builders can build that are perhaps based on (designs) from college kids to see which ones can do the best.”

Martinez joined the team because she was looking for more extracurriculars to join.

“I tried, I loved it, so I’ve been doing this for three years,” Martinez said.

The school team was unable to compete regionally this year because the Texas meet was canceled. But last year they placed first in a regional competition held virtually.

Team Baker competed in the MATE Scout competition, a lower level than Team Moody, which competes at the MATE Ranger level, but the school plans to try and compete in a higher class next year.

“Next year will be the first year we try the Ranger,” Fernandez said. “They’re middle schoolers, yes, but we’re going to bang them and see if they can do anything. … That’s our goal, to try and compete.”

Olivia Garrett reports on education and community news in South Texas. Contact her at [email protected] You can support local journalism by subscribing to the Caller-Times.

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