Corpus Christi students are making a splash in the field of underwater robotics.

Underwater robotics programs offer students the chance to design and engineer robots to advance science and explore the oceans.

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

While middle schoolers are getting their feet wet in the field, the Moody team competed last week at the international level at the MATE 2022 World Championship.

To get 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 ourselves into," said Jaziel Gonzalez, who graduated this year. "All eyes were on us."

Though Moody's team has competed at the international level before, some of the knowledge that might typically be gained through experience and passed down from upper- to underclassmen was lost due to the pandemic.

This year, half a dozen incoming sophomores went on the trip to California.

"That's really the main reason we decided to bring them," Gonzalez said. "Since we didn't have that experience, we struggled. Having them here really does let them know what to expect with this competition in following years."

Entering the competition is intimidating, Gonzalez said Tuesday from California.

"Each team here earned their spot just like us," he said. "Each one of us is hoping to win, to do really well."

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

"I heard the team was traveling and making cool things," Gonzalez said. 

So he joined the team his sophomore year.

He plans to pursue electrical engineering at the University of Texas at San Antonio in the fall, and hopes he'll have more opportunities in underwater robotics.

He enjoys the problem-solving aspect of the team. Gonzalez described how sometimes the team hits a roadblock and might spend 20 minutes brainstorming before discovering a solution in a fit of inspiration.

"It helps you with critical thinking," Gonzalez said.

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

"The idea behind engineering is to try to make our environment easier for human beings," teacher Mario Bayarena said. "So in other words, instead of a diver having to dive to do all these tasks underwater, we're designing a robot to be able to do these without jeopardizing human life underwater."

Teams come to MATE from all over the U.S. and the world.

"There's 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 spirited."

"Moody's done OK, you know — they recognize who we are when we show up," Bayarena said.

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

Engineering skills aren't the only things students take away from the competition, Bayarena said.

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

While the Moody students were competing internationally, another set of CCISD students were learning the basics of underwater robotics.

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

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

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

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

"It gives me an opportunity to learn something new, and it's actually pretty fun here," DeSilva said.

On Friday, the middle schoolers were nearing completion on two robots, contraptions of PVC pipe, wire and propellers.

The room smelled of burnt plastic as 11-year-olds practiced soldering. In the corner, a 3D printer churned out parts.

"We have a 25-foot tether that has 18-gauge wires inside of it that are red, white, blue, green, black that connect to the wires of our motors," Trodden said.

"They've been doing this for one week," Fernandez said as Trodden finished up an extensive description of the robot's wiring. "Monday was the first time they were introduced to any of this."

The middle school students have plenty of ideas for real-world applications for underwater robotics.

"There's a lot of robots that clean up trash from the ocean, but I want to come up with one that actually goes down into the deep ends of the ocean and looks for trash that sinks down," DeSilva said.

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

"Just have a house on the ocean and have it bring back fish for you every day that you can cook," Trodden said.

Eighth-grader Ava Martinez has a bit more experience. She will be the CEO of the Baker team in the fall.

"This is what the MATE competition is for," Martinez said. "To see which ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) professional builders can build that are maybe based off of middle schoolers' (designs) to see which ones can do the best."

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

"I tried it, I loved it, so I've been doing this for three years," Martinez said.

The school's team wasn't able to compete at the regional level this year, as the Texas competition was canceled. But last year, they placed first in a regional competition that was held virtually.

The Baker team has competed in the MATE Scout competition, a lower level than the Moody team, which competes at the MATE Ranger level, but the school is planning on trying to compete at a higher class next year.

"Next year will be the first year that we try the Ranger," Fernandez said. "They're middle schoolers, yes, but we're going to bump them and see if they can do something. ... That's our goal, to try to compete."

Olivia Garrett reports on education and community news in South Texas. Contact her at olivia.garrett@caller.com. You can support local journalism with a subscription to the Caller-Times. 

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