PoliTOcean and the MATE ROV COMPETITION in Michigan

Michigan, 2025

From June 19 to 21, our student team PoliTOcean represented Politecnico di Torino at the MATE ROV Competition, one of the most prestigious student competitions in the field of marine robotics, held this year in Michigan, USA.

MATE ROV Competition is a regular milestone for PoliTOcean, which this year competed against 28 teams from all over the world. The 2024 challenge focused on the protection and monitoring of the Great Lakes, with a strong emphasis on the chemical alterations caused by climate change. Among the tasks, teams were required to autonomously collect a water sample and accurately analyze its pH.

At the end of the competition, Team PoliTOcean ranked 8th overall.

Since its foundation in 2017, the team from the DET department has grown rapidly, now counting up to 80 members from various degree programs. The team is structured into three main operational areas:

MATE, with 35 members dedicated specifically to the competition;
Research & Development, focused on technological innovation and prototype evolution;
Management & Communication, which promotes initiatives and engages the student community.

Representing the team in the U.S. were eight students from the MATE area:
Carlo Secli (BSc in Mechanical Engineering), Lorenzo Rizzo, Samuele Rizza, and Luigi Puppo (MSc in Electronic Engineering), Eduard Simptea (MSc in Electrical Engineering), Vincenzo Segreto (BSc in Energy Engineering), Simone Fassio and Giovanni Pellegrino (MSc in Data Science and Engineering).

With them, they brought EVA, a tethered underwater drone developed during the COVID period, now a flagship example of a modular robot designed for underwater maintenance, seabed exploration, and environmental surveys. Fully open source and thoroughly documented, EVA is the result of years of work, testing, and refinement.

PoliTOcean has not only built robots, but has also developed smart floating systems capable of diving, resurfacing, and transmitting data collected during operations.

All of this has been made possible thanks to the Politecnico, which has provided spaces, resources, and a thriving academic environment for the development of engineering, organizational, and interpersonal skills.

The U.S. experience marked a turning point for the team, which is already working on a new ROV that will carry on EVA’s legacy for future competitions.