Robotics coach Heidi Lent is leading five teams of Warrenton students to Newport today to see if they can once again qualify for the world championships in underwater robotics.

Lent, who teaches middle school full-time in Warrenton, said that she’s excited to be competing for the 10th consecutive year in the regional qualifier.

To qualify for the regional MATE ROV competition, student teams must design and pilot underwater robots through a series of challenges. MATE stands for marine advanced technology education, and ROV stands for remotely operated vehicle.

Last year, “Oregon Field Guide” followed the Warrenton students through the regional competition. Nineteen teams from elementary through high school competed across three divisions: scout, navigator and ranger. One of Lent’s five teams, the Rays, took the top spot in ranger — the most advanced level — then carried that momentum to the world championship in Alpena, Michigan, where they finished 14th out of 37 teams.

This weekend, the Rays are heading back to Newport to build on last year’s success.

“The Rays are returning and have made some bold changes to their machine,” Lent said. “We are eager to try it out.”

Lent runs the program with the help of Craig Battles, a former Boeing engineer who spent 42 years in robotics and automation.

“I’m just a technical guy that helps out however I can,” Battles said. “They didn’t have a lot of background in computing or robotics. So when the opportunity came along to help Heidi with technology, that was right up my alley.”

Lent said that Battle’s mentorship helped Warrenton elevate their skills so they could compete on a national level.

“I can give them time and I can give them my passion, but what I can’t do is I can’t figure out all the robotics that he’s had so many years of experience with,” she said. “So having him is the reason we are at the level we’re at with these kids.”

The competition gives students a chance to test their engineering, teamwork and problem-solving skills. Lent said those technical skills could translate into future careers that require coding, 3D printing or computer-aided design.

“If I can teach them those skills, they would definitely be more employable than kids that weren’t in a STEM-related class or elective like this,” Lent said.

The program has produced multiple gold medal-winning teams at the regionals in Newport. A stocked trophy case outside Lent’s classroom reflects that success. She said the goal is to keep Warrenton at the top of the standings.

“I’m a competitor,” she said. “And I want to share that with the kids.”

The students spend months after school and on weekends building and testing their underwater robots prior to the regional competition.

Last year, five teams from Warrenton traveled to the competition. The most experienced team, The Rays, was made up of four high schoolers and one middle schooler.

Their ROV was outfitted with industrial claws, navigation cameras and an AI unit the students described as an assistant underwater. Team member Owen Cross said clear visibility was critical during marine missions.

“You have to have all the different angles you want or need,” he said. “And it’s all streamed onto a laptop that you’re controlling with an Xbox controller.”

The regional competition takes place at the Newport Recreation Center. Students from several schools gather in a field house staging area to prepare their robots before the competition in a swimming pool on the other side of the building.

At last year’s event, Rays team member Declan Wallace described the scene while waiting with his teammates for the competition to start.

“Right now everyone’s just going around looking at all the other teams,” Declan said. “Basically sizing up the competition.”

Every team faces the same set of underwater challenges, earning points for each task they complete. They need to lift a PVC object and move it to a designated location. The challenges are meant to simulate real-world ROV tasks used in deep-sea mapping, research and exploration.

When it was their time to compete last year, the Rays made their way to the pool. A judge gave them the signal to start and each team member went to work on their individual tasks. They had 15 minutes to complete the challenges, and every second counted.

After getting their ROV into the pool, they ran into technical issues. One of the cameras was misaligned. Cross pointed at the monitor displaying the ROV’s video feed.

“Why is that camera not working?” he asked. “Oh it’s angled off. It’s rotated.”

The team had to choose between leaving some tasks unfinished and sacrificing points or spending valuable time trying to fix the problem. The pilot, Dalton Wallace, chose to move on and complete as many tasks as possible.

The decision helped the Rays stay in contention and eventually win a chance to compete in the world championships.

Wallace said the real benefit of the competition was how it prepared students for life after high school by giving them a chance to turn their ideas into something real.

“It really just shows you what it’s like to be part of a team and how to work with other people,” he said. “It gives you an opportunity to make your imagination come to life.”

News Source : https://www.opb.org/article/2026/05/09/warrenton-oregon-aquatic-robotics-team-mate-rov-competition/