Robotics Club Makes Waves With First-Ever Underwater Competition Win

After months of trial, error and rapid learning, the Stony Brook University's Robotics Club debuted its first fully student-designed underwater robot at an exploration-based engineering challenge this past summer. Their hard work resulted in placing among the top teams.

"I am very proud of the Stony Brook robotics team for their win and their performance in the MATE ROV competition," said William Stewart, faculty advisor of the robotics team. "They put a lot of hard work into it. It's quite clear as a faculty advisor. They always make a lot of great progress every time I see them and they're always thinking through in very rigorous terms how to make engineering decisions. I know that this is just the start for the team and for these students' careers."

Last year's mechanical team lead Arash Khan, now club president, explained that underwater robotics was completely new territory for the organization.

"We needed to do research on how to do underwater robotics for the first time because we hadn't worked in that environment," Khan said. Much of the fall semester was spent learning the fundamentals, and the design progress didn't begin until spring.

Their first full robot design emerged in December, followed by several iterations and troubleshooting sessions. The team built their initial working model by March, complete with thrusters and mobility, but quickly discovered it lacked enough internal space for the electronics.

"We had to redesign it to make it bigger so it could actually house everything," Khan said.

The expanded version was fully assembled by May. But once the academic year ended, the club lost access to campus pool facilities, leaving them with limited testing opportunities. The team's final trial runs took place in a family friend's backyard pool. Altogether, the team logged only a couple hours of real practice before arriving at the competition venue.

The contest itself simulated real underwater exploration tasks including visual sensing challenges, object manipulation and dexterity-based missions typically performed by divers. Teams had 15 minutes to complete as many tasks as possible using their robot.

Despite the obstacles, Stony Brook University performed exceedingly well.

"This was the first time anyone in our club had gone to a competition in years," Khan said. "The fact that we made it there and actually did so well was an amazing achievement for all of us."

Beyond the trophy, Khan emphasized that the experience gave the club valuable insight into the logistics of traveling, testing and planning for future competitions.

"Now we understand what it takes, and we have a platform to work off of," Khan said.

Looking ahead, the team hopes to start their design cycle earlier to avoid the time crunch they faced last spring.

Khan's biggest advice for future leaders? "Start as early as possible. It gives you more time to make mistakes. If you're doing something new, you're always going to be learning."

As the club prepares for next year's season, with lessons learned and renewed momentum, they hope to expand their capabilities and aim even higher.

- Angelina Livigni