Kingsport Technologies Underwater Robotics Team

Kingsport Technologies (K-Tech) is a high school underwater robotics team from Kingsport, Tennessee. The team currently consists of 11 members with a variety of skills, including Computer-Aided Design (CAD), programming, engineering, physics, mathematics, and marketing, which are used to develop a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) for the MATE ROV Competition each year. K-Tech aims to improve with each ROV in order to solve problems occurring in oceans, such as pollution and invasive species, and the team tests these solutions in a simulated environment at competition each spring.

Kingsport Technologies' 2025 ROV, Turtle

In Spring 2025, the team finished developing their most recent ROV, Turtle, which featured a multidirectional claw with four prongs, an adjustable buoyancy capsule, and a detachable tether. This year, K-Tech intends to innovate further, continuing to use the detachable tether that the team found successful, but also designing the buoyancy capsule to be more user-friendly and the claw to be able to rotate. Furthermore, the team aims to grow their use of PCBs to make the electronics system safer, cleaner, and easier to assemble and use. The team plans to develop three PCBs: a power distribution board, a power and ethernet management board, and a claw control board.

Power Distribution Board

The power distribution board is the only PCB aboard the ROV itself. Its job is to receive the power that comes into the ROV from the power supply and distribute it to each electrical component, including a Raspberry Pi 4B, a USB hub that manages camera inputs, servos, ESCs for the thrusters, and any other additional tools that require power. Using the power distribution board to manage the power makes the ROV's electronics capsule much cleaner, safer, less likely to come apart, and easier to adjust since connectors can be easily plugged into the board as needed. A power distribution board was also aboard Turtle, but the team intends to make improvements this year by having 12 connections instead of 10, and by changing the shape so it can fit in a 4 inch capsule both vertically as well as horizontally.

Turtle's Power Distribution Board

Power and Ethernet Management Board

The power and ethernet management board is part of the control box, a 3D printed box with the board mounted inside. The control box contains two circuits: a power circuit with a fuse and a switch to ensure all electricity that is sent to the ROV is safe, as well as an ethernet circuit that connects the ethernet from the topside computer to the tether's ethernet, so that all cabling remains organized. While Turtle also featured the power and ethernet management board, the team will improve this year's by including a switch with an LED indicator as well as by including decoupling capacitors to filter voltage spikes and supplement voltage groups.

Turtle's Control Box

Claw Control Board

The claw control board will be completely new this year. With Turtle and other previous ROVs, the claw was controlled with the same controller as the thrusters. The claw control board will separate the controls for the claw, easily allowing a Co-Pilot pilot to assist with the claw. The board will consist of rotary encoders processed by a XIAO SAMD21 microcontroller, so that the position and rotation of the claw can be controlled and presets can be specified that improve efficiency further.

Kingsport Technologies is committed to fostering innovation, collaboration, and problem solving through the development of these ROVs. The team would greatly appreciate PCBWay's support in this endeavor, especially with producing circuit boards and sourcing components, so that team members can grow their electronics and PCB design skills, mentor younger students and teams in this area, and continue pioneering solutions to improve the health of oceans.