MATE ROV Competition

Key facts

Eligible grades

K-12, community college and university students. Five classes: SCOUT for elementary through high school entry level, NAVIGATOR for middle schoolers with robotics experience and high schoolers new to robotics, RANGER for middle and high school students with solid robotics experience, PIONEER for first-time college and university teams, and EXPLORER at advanced university level.

An important restriction on the top class: high school students competing in MATE ROV for the first time are NOT eligible for EXPLORER. High schoolers may enter EXPLORER only if they previously placed in the top 50% at the international event in EXPLORER with at least half the prior team returning, or placed in the top three in RANGER.

Source, checked 2026-09-02

Official divisions

Five classes by experience rather than age: SCOUT for entry level, NAVIGATOR for middle schoolers with robotics experience and high schoolers new to it, RANGER for solid experience, then PIONEER and EXPLORER at university level. High schoolers new to MATE cannot enter EXPLORER.

Based on the organiser's own divisions.

Eligible ages

Not confirmed. This organiser may set eligibility by grade rather than age. We do not convert one into the other.

MATE sets classes by school level and prior experience, not age.

Individual or team

Team · More than one team per school or instructor may be permitted, but a student may only be on one team, and this applies ACROSS classes: a NAVIGATOR competitor cannot also compete on a RANGER team. Where a regional event cannot host multiple teams from one school, schools are encouraged to hold an in-school run-off.

Where it runs

In person · United States, International

Entry cost

A few hundred to a few thousand dollars in materialsRegistration fees are set per regional event and were not published centrally. The larger cost is equipment: MATE sells ROV building kits for RANGER and PIONEER teams at roughly $850 or $1,260 depending on model. MATE advises teams to consider whether they have sufficient financial resources before registering, and to secure access to a pool or comparable water source deep and clear enough to test in.

Registration deadline

Set locally, not published as a single national date Set by each regional event; check your closest regional's page as registration opens.

Competition dates

The 2027 World Championship will be held in Federal Way, Washington. Regional event dates vary and are listed on the MATE site as registration opens.

Difficulty

CompetitiveSerious preparation over a season. Advancing past the first round separates prepared students from unprepared ones.

Prizes

Scholarships, cash awards and industry recognitionClass winner awards plus a small number of general awards; no cash prize schedule was confirmed on the pages checked.