A group of high school and university students from eastern Newfoundland has won a robotics competition at the NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The students won gold in the fourth annual Marine Advanced Technology Education Center's underwater robotics competition, besting 49 other university and high school teams.

The 33-member team has worked most weekends and many nights since January on its prototype. Their work included some tests at the flume tank at the Marine Institute.

A team from eastern Newfoundland takes top prize at an underwater robotics contest in Houston. (Courtesy: Clar Button)

Competitors were required to build what's called an ROV, or remotely operated vehicle, that could perform a series of tasks in a 12-metre pool at NASA's astronaut training facility at the Johnson Space Center. The feat is considered one of the frontiers in engineering.

In addition to possible space applications, including NASA's Mars rovers, ROVs are being used underwater to reduce risk of injury to human divers.

Besides winning first prize in six categories, the team received some high praise from judges, said Justin Higden, a student at Prince of Wales Collegiate in St. John's.

"In our engineering panel, one of the judges – as he was examining the robot – said this robot, with a few tweaks, could be a commercial quality machine," says Higden, who plans to study electrical engineering.

"That made us feel pretty good."

The win delighted the team, agreed Renee Hodder, an engineering student.

"The most beautiful thing, I think, of the whole weekend was that as soon as the guys brought the robot down ... without prodding or anything, they just launched into the Ode to Newfoundland. It was amazing," she said.

The competition was sponsored by the Marine Advance Technology Education Center, which operates a branch office in Texas. The Eastern School District also sponsored the students.