Wenatchee High School’s Autocad class will be building underwater Remote Control Vehicles this upcoming January in class, competing in a nationwide contest between many different and varied groups of competitors.

Underwater Remote Control Vehicles, or Underwater ROVs, are a sort of submarine vehicle, but not like the typical ones you see on the TV, according to Autocad teacher Doug Merrill. During the contest, competitors aren’t allowed to look into the pool, instead using cameras to watch their ROVs’s progress, and, since the ROVs are motorized, the competitors will have to make it maneuver well underwater.

“The end of January is when we’re really going to be starting this and putting things together,” Merrill said.

The 2014 MATE (Marine Advanced Technology Education) ROV Competition is a nationwide contest with contestants ranging from Cub Scouts to college students. The goal of the project is to engage students in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) while exposing them to technology.

“There’s probably 45-plus school districts contributing to this,” Merrill said. “It’s not just high schools, not just us. It’s really motivating.”

The Autocad class, built up of second-year engineering students, will be participating in this competition. “They have a design background, they can draw and build in 3D among other things,” Merrill said.

“I’m making and designing different parts right now. I’m just starting,” said senior Joe Cain. “We have a kit that has three motors in it and a camera, a back-up camera that you’d have in a car. I’m excited about the project. I’ve never done robotics, and I think it’ll be cool to make it my own.”

Along with Autocad’s ROVs, they are also designing and creating their own skis or snowboards. “They design a wood core in 3D, then they design the plastics and fiberglassing,” Merrill said. “The cool part is that they can design their own graphics to put on their boards, but it looks like it’ll be January before they can actually use them.”