Upper School students learn to build ROVs as part of Sea Perch program
For the first year, Admiral Farragut Academy Upper School students are participating in Sea Perch, an innovative underwater robotics program that equips teachers and students with the resources they need to build an underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) in an in-school or out-of-school setting.
On Thursday, December 14, students put their ROVs to the test during an obstacle competition in the pool at Farragut.
“All of the students did a fantastic job designing, building, and driving their rovs through a difficult obstacle course,” said STEM instructor Grady Heiss. “We had five teams competing for the top three spots for the next round of competition.”
The top three teams were:
#1 “Electric Crabs”
- ROV Driver, Ryan Green
- ROV Observer, Alex Zacharias
- ROV Mechanics, Jason Chen and Kestler Wilbur
- Course time: 2:42:49
#2 “Megalodon”
- ROV Driver, Luke Matsuyoshi
- ROV Observer
- Konrad Hart, ROV Mechanics
- Shi Wang, and RayJohn Dacres
- Course time: 7:20:28
#3 “Drone/Robotics Club Team #1”
- ROV Driver, Sean Tang
- ROV Observer, David Wei
- ROV Mechanic, Roman Stott
- Course time: 7:53:55
These three teams will move on to the Florida Suncoast Sea Perch Regional Challenge in Dunedin, Florida on March 24, 2018. The three remaining ROVs will be retasked, redesigned, and rebuilt for Marine Science ROV operations in Spring/Summer 2018 and beyond.
Special mention to Naval Science Team #1 ROV Driver, Liam Carney, ROV Observer, Sam Nolin for navigating a difficult course and building a working ROV.
If you would like to participate in Sea Perch, please contact Mr. Heiss at gheiss@farragut.org. Learn more at www.seaperch.org.
