ATHENS The Lost Rockets, an underwater robotics team from Limestone County Career Technical Center, was ranked 28th among 65 teams from 17 countries taking part in an international competition for remotely operated vehicles.

The Lost Rockets advanced to the Marine Advanced Technology Education international ROV contest last month at Long Beach City College in California. The teamtookfirst placein the Ranger class in a regional MATE competition in April at Dauphin Island Sea Lab.

The Lost Rockets, the only Alabama team in the international competition, represented MATEs Northern Gulf Coast Region, which includes Mississippi, Georgia, Florida and Alabama, said Monica McConnell, the teams coach and a Limestone County Schools gifted teacher.

Im very proud of the team, said McConnell. A presentation is part of the competition, and theyhave great public speaking skills anddid a great job demonstrating the robot.

The MATE competition requires students to think as entrepreneurs and transform their teams into companies that manufacture, market and sell their products. Students operate their ROVs, and also prepare technical reports, poster displays and engineering presentations that are presented to working professionals who serve as competition judges.

We built an underwater ROV, or remotely operated vehicle, designed to explore and maintaincommercial docks under the water, said Coleman Cook, the teams captain. He said it took the team about four months to build the ROV using high-density polyethylene, stainless steel brackets and 3-D printed plastic. The ROV is about 13 inches by 6 inches by 6 inches and weighs about 18 pounds, he said.

The theme of this years competition was Port Cities of the Future, and students designed and tested their ROVs to handle underwater jobs similar to real-world tasks an ROV would perform in a seaport.

Team members included Cook, Tyler Pressnell, David Sanchez and Preston Lewis, all seniors who have graduated; and Baylee Brewer and Bailey Webb, upcoming seniors.

Casey Wigginton, a former engineering instructor at the career center, previously had been the teams coach.

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Limestone robotics students compete in international contest - The Decatur Daily