The Alabama School for the Deaf won the overall regional champion title on Saturday, March 21, at the Alabama Regional SeaPerch competition. They qualified to attend the Internaiontal SeaPerch Competition in College Park, Maryland at the end of May.
Six schools competed in the sixth annual SeaPerch ROV Competition at UMS-Wright Preparatory School in Mobile, Alabama, on Saturday, March 21. The Dauphin Island Sea Lab and UMS-Wright co-hosted the competition.
The middle and high school teams competed in two pool courses - an obstacle course and a mission course. Each team designed and built its own SeaPerch underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) for the competition.
This year’s mission course theme focused on storm response following a natural disaster and on how ROVs can aid recovery, resilience, and discovery in disaster relief efforts. Teams completed tasks focused on real-world scenarios, including assessing and repairing underwater infrastructure on a bridge and a dam, clearing a debris field to aid water navigation, and collecting a displaced marine specimen and a water sample to aid environmental recovery.
Alabama schools competing included Alabama School of the Deaf, Clark Shaw Magnet School, Daphne High School, Robertsdale Navy JROTC, and UMS-Wright Preparatory School. Mississippi schools included Pass Road Elementary from Gulfport.
Robonation representative Dutch Holland attended the competition to lend a hand. Holland helped to create the pool challenges the students took on during today’s competition. He also gained insight on how smaller competitions operate. It was a great experience to have him join the group for the event.
High School team placements were:
- 1st Place: The Alabama School for the Deaf
- 2nd Place: Golden Bears, Robertsdale Navy JROTC
- 3rd Place: Trojan Power Robotics, Daphne High School
Middle School team placements were:
- 1st Place: Seagles, Clark Shaw Magnet School
- 2nd Place: UMS-Wright Preparatory School - Crimson
- 3rd Place: UMS-Wright Preparatory School - Grey
Several teams were also recognized for their teamwork and preparation for the competition. The Sea Kings from Pass Road Elementary in Gulfport, Mississippi, won the Just Keep Swimming award for their exceptional teamwork. The judges said the group demonstrated strong teamwork and easily troubleshooted a power outage.
Clark Shaw Magnet School Team 1 won the top technical report for middle school, and Robertsdale Navy JROTC earned the award for high school.
Learn more about DISL’s Discovery Hall Programs STEM classes, camps, and workshops at www.disl.edu/dhp/stem.