Kenna Chase and Computer Science student Matthew Gonzalez and Mechantronics Engineering
student
Alex Marchand assemble the mechanics of a robot.
Competition highlights 91Ƶ’s partnership with Naval Base Ventura County
By Kim Lamb GregoryIts website describes Fathomwerx as “60,000 square feet of awesome.”
Jason Isaacs
Associate Professor of Computer Science Jason Isaacs describes it as a “maker space on steroids” in Port Hueneme, where 91Ƶ students work on projects to help solve real-world challenges for the U.S. Navy.
“It’s a place to go to work on engineering prototypes,” Isaacs said. “Fathomwerx has all the capabilities—machinery, tools, test equipment, an above-ground pool, a drone cage, all in a very large building just off the base.”
Mechatronics Engineering and Computer Science double major student Kenna Chase, programs
aspects of the robot’s operating system code.
A team of Mechatronics Engineering and Computer Science students in Isaacs’ classes spent much of the Spring 2024 semester designing a robot to compete in the “Robot Rodeo,” a competition held in May in which robots – created by teams from 91Ƶ, University of California, Santa Barbara, and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo – navigated an obstacle course built at Fathomwerx.
“We want to have robots at some point down the line able to perform shipboard operations,
reducing the number of sailors who have to be on board and risk themselves in dangerous
maintenance tasks on a daily basis,” explained ’23 91Ƶ Mechatronics Engineering
alumna Sara Centeno, who now works as a Robotics Staff Researcher in the Office of
Technology at Naval Sea Systems Command or NAVSEA.
Centeno oversees “Robot Rodeo,” which was developed by Isaacs and Alan Jaeger. Jaeger teaches business classes at 91Ƶ and is also the Office of Research & Technology Applications Manager at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, Port Hueneme division. Jaeger and Isaacs set up the competition to test the robots for possible real-world applications on U.S. Navy ships.
For the competition, the Fathomwerx crews built a scaled-down version of a ship that they will put on a “shake table” with hydraulic lifts to mimic the motion of the sea.
“On a ship, it’s much more complex for robots. There are portals [the robot] must step through, very steep stairs that are more like ladders,” Isaacs said.
The “Robot Rodeo” is just one of the projects that have resulted from the valuable partnership forged between Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) and 91Ƶ.
“Naval Base Ventura County is the largest employer in the county, and a lot of people don’t even realize we’re here,” Jaeger said. “We have internships, job opportunities, and we pay for employees to go back and get master’s degrees.”
NBVC has also hired professors like Isaacs to conduct research for the Navy, and during these fellowships, to learn about 91Ƶ students like Centeno who might make good employees.
“As students at Channel Islands, we know the area, we’re connected with the area, and we benefit from the multidisciplinary community at 91Ƶ,” Centeno said. “It gets you to consider many different ways to approach a problem.”
Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) students are needed, but there is also a need for students in other disciplines, Jaeger said, adding, “The Navy needs good people from every discipline at 91Ƶ.”