Miami Dade College

Six students from Miami Dade College used chainflex® continuous-flex cables on their remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for a Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) Competition. The competition challenges students to build an ROV that completes tasks in dangerous waters while the operator mans the robot in a comfortable, safe environment.

The competition theme—Mission to Europa—pitted teams against each other in an icy ocean on the surface of Europa, one of the six known moons to orbit the planet Jupiter. The challenge was simulated in a pool at the Neutral Buoyancy Laboratory within the NASA Johnson Space Center.

chainflex® CF31 power cables were used as an umbilical cord that runs from the ROV to the operating station. The cables are responsible for carrying the power, command and control signals to the vehicle and the status and sensory data back to the operator. CF31 provided power to four trolling motors and four underwater cameras.

“igus®’ products were essential to our success,” said Haniel Pulido Jr., instructional technologist for the team. “The flexibility of the power cable provided for easy tether management during the competition and throughout our practice sessions.”