Photo By Chief Petty Officer Mark Alvarez | 160319-N-RU841-002 SARATOGA, Calif. (March 19, 2016) – Hospital Corpsman 2nd Class...... read more read more
SARATOGA, Calif. – (March 19, 2016) High school students from the bay to the Sacramento Valley went head to head in an underwater robotics competition at the West Valley College pool, Saturday, for a shot at gaining entry into the national SeaPerch competition.
Navy Recruiting District (NRD) San Francisco in collaboration with Navy City Outreach Los Angeles, hosted more than 200 students, educators and parents in this three part event to help promote an interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
SeaPerch, an Office of Naval Research sponsored program, is an underwater robotics program that equips teachers and students with the resources necessary to build an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) in an in-school or out-of-school setting. Students build the ROV from a kit comprised of low-cost, easily accessible parts, following a curriculum that teaches basic engineering and science concepts with a marine engineering theme.
“It definitely lowers the barriers of entry into robotics,” said Adam Kahn, SeaPerch competitor from St. Francis High School Watsonville. “People are normally not exposed to this so it’s really great that you can give people robots and get them involved.”
NRD San Francisco distributed 50 SeaPerch kits to schools in the area, one kit per school; however, several schools were so enthusiastic about the program, they purchased additional kits in order to field multiple teams in the competition.
“Our school, who is just starting to get off the ground, we didn’t have materials and resources to work with, so to get a kit put in their hands that they could work with and have a plan was really essential to them developing a product,” said Patty Kahn, SeaPerch competition parent.
Eighteen teams competed in three different events for a combined total score, judged by NASA Ames Research Center engineers and Naval officers. The teams were judged on a visual display and knowledge test, an underwater obstacle course, and an underwater skills test where each ROV had to manipulate a series of levers in-sequence to release floating orbs to the surface.
“We are very happy to bring an event like this to the community,” said Cmdr. Joel Rodriguez, executive officer for NRD San Francisco. “It allows us to put a personal face to the Navy and provides a great opportunity to get more young people interested in STEM.”
It was Central Catholic High School, from Modesto, who was the overall winner, just edging past Lincoln High School, Stockton, with Capital Christian coming in third, out of Sacramento. The first and second place teams have both earned a berth for the national competition, which will take place in May at Louisiana State University, Louisiana.
| Date Taken: | 03.19.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 03.21.2016 19:37 |
| Story ID: | 193097 |
| Location: | SARATOGA, CALIFORNIA, US |
| Web Views: | 360 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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