Riccardo Ruggiu and Federico Pavone, respectively team leader and head of the mechanical area of the PoliTOcean team, explain how the only Italian robot competing in the Mate ROV Competition was born and developed.

An international competition that in 2020 is held at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, USA and where FILOALFA^® filaments will help the PoliTOcean team to make the difference.

The idea

The PoliTOcean team was born in 2017 at the Polytechnic of Turin and deals with underwater robotics.

In particular, the team's work concerns the study and construction of an R.O.V. (Remotely Operated Vehicle) mainly used for exploration and maintenance in an underwater environment.

The team participated in 2 different editions of the competition, ranking 16th in the 2019 edition, which included hundreds of participants.

This year the theme is related to the pollution of the oceans by microplastics and the conservation of coral reefs, so the robot has been optimized to overcome the different tasks that will be required.

3d printing and development

The desire to respect the environment as much as possible and reduce process waste and iterations led PoliTOcean to the use of 3D printers and FILOALFA^® filaments.

This technology allows a student team of engineers to prototype bodies and functional components quickly and at a low cost. The technical materials for 3d printing offered by FILOALFA^® have allowed the team to overcome even the thermal and mechanical limits imposed by the operating conditions of the ROV.

PoliTOcean has therefore identified in ALFAPRO and PETG by FILOALFA^®, the most congenial materials for this purpose within the range of filaments for 3D printing.

Preparations for the competition

From 22 to 29 June 2020 the PoliTOcean team will be engaged in the Mate ROV Competition, it will, therefore, be possible to follow the developments both on the team's Instagram and Facebook, and on the FILOALFA^® social channels Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest e Twitter.