The Red Sea Robotics team from TKS – having won the Mate-ROV Regional Competition held in Saudi Arabia in June – traveled to Kingsport, Tennessee, to represent Saudi Arabia in the Mate-ROV World Competition. With 82 teams taking part – from 17 countries – this was the largest and most internationally diverse yet! Students traveled from US, Canada, Scotland, Mexico, UAE, Italy, Poland, Germany, Turkey, Macau, Hong Kong, China, Egypt, Singapore, France, Uganda… and, of course, Saudi Arabia to take part in the 2024 World Championship.
Along with the other teams, the Red Sea Robotics ROV was put through its paces in a series of pool missions, including one that was inspired by Mate-ROV’s visit to KAUST and the Red Sea. In addition to the under-water action, the teams have to showcase their work in the Marketing Display, deliver a number of engineering presentations and documents, and talk about their corporate responsibility activities. Over a gruelling 3-days the teams are ‘on-show’, with each category being marked, to create the final score and placement.
Given that Mate-ROV is pretty new to TKS, and this was only the second year that the Red Sea Robotics had competed at the World Championship, we are very proud that they finished 15th in the Ranger class. Congratulations Red Sea Robotics!
The Mate-ROV program is an excellent example of how students at The KAUST School are able to benefit from the expertise and resources at the KAUST university. The program is delivered as a true partnership between TKS, KAUST Enrichment for Youth (KEY), the KAUST Coral Restoration Initiative, the Coastal and Marine Resources lab, the Marine Microbiomes Lab (a part of the Red Sea Research Center), and the Robotics, Intelligent Systems & Control (RISC) lab. Attendance at both the Regional and World Competitions would not be possible without the support of many individuals from across the school and university.
For photos of our team in action at the World Competition, click here.
If you would like to learn more about Mate-ROV and the World Competition, visit their website.
We look forward to the 2024/2025 season and growing the program at TKS.