About the Stony Brook Robotics Team and MATE ROV

The Stony Brook Robotics Team is a multidisciplinary student organization dedicated to hands-on engineering, innovation, and teamwork. The team brings together students from electrical engineering, mechanical engineering, computer science, and related fields to design, build, and compete in a variety of robotics challenges. This year, the team has focused its efforts on the MATE ROV (Marine Advanced Technology Education Remotely Operated Vehicle) competition, which emphasizes real-world problem solving in underwater robotics through tasks such as object retrieval, manipulation, and environmental monitoring.

Participation in MATE ROV pushes the team to apply theoretical knowledge in practical, high-stakes scenarios. The competition challenges students not only to design a capable vehicle but also to document and justify every engineering decision, from mechanical fabrication to software architecture and electrical integration. The 2025 season reflects the team’s continued growth and commitment to developing a professional, modular, and mission-ready ROV capable of performing reliably under demanding underwater conditions.

Electronics and Custom PCB Development

The electrical system of the 2025 Stony Brook ROV was designed for high-current performance, modularity, and ease of maintenance. A central feature of this year’s design was the move from off-the-shelf modules to custom-designed power and logic PCBs, significantly reducing cabling, improving reliability, and enabling rapid diagnostics. Power is delivered through a 48V tether input and stepped down via two 100A buck converters to 12V, which then feeds a custom six-layer power PCB. This board generates regulated 8V and 5V outputs to drive high-current servos and power onboard electronics. The use of 2 oz copper inner layers, thermal stitching vias, and a dedicated power-layer stack ensured the board could handle continuous high loads without thermal failure.

A four-layer logic PCB was also developed to manage PWM signal routing and sensor inputs. This board hosts a PCA9685 PWM driver and interfaces with two BNO055 IMUs, a BAR02 depth sensor, and a leak detector. All boards were designed in Altium Designer and connected via gold-finger edge connectors into a shared backplane, secured with custom 3D-printed standoffs. This modular configuration allows individual boards to be swapped in seconds, greatly improving serviceability during testing or competition. The result is a compact, robust electrical system optimized for the rigors of underwater operation and capable of supporting a wide range of mission tasks.

• High Current
• MATEROV
• Modules
• Cameras
• Arm
• Sensors
• Altium Designer
• PCB
• Underwater
• Robotics