Motorized submersibles invade Wes Deist Aquatics Center
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IDAHO FALLS — About 100 sixth through eighth graders constructed 22 Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs), diving deep into the Wes Deist Aquatic Center Friday to compete in the Seaperch competition Friday.
“I’m glad to learn how to build robots, know how to drive them and know in the competition that that was me who created the robot, and I was able to get such a good time,” said Kaden Bowen, a sixth grader from Westside Elementary in Idaho Falls.
Bowen wants to be an electrical or mechanical engineer when he grows up and said the competition moves him “one step closer to getting to do stuff like that.”
The third annual Seaperch competition is sponsored by the Naval Nuclear Laboratory which operates Naval Reactors Facility for the U.S. Department of Energy. The program is designed to give middle school-age students greater exposure to STEM education.
Starting in January, mentors from Naval Reactors Facility visit each participating school for two hours every week.
“They learn how to build these Remote Operated Vehicles (ROVs) that are in the water,” said Roger Davison, Seaperch co-lead for Naval Reactors Facility. “They learn the principles that go into operating these ROVs — buoyancy, electronics and how to make the motors run. Then they test them out.”
Westside Elementary sixth-grade teacher Kaylyn Griffiths said the program levels up her students’ exposure in the science, technology, engineering and mathematics arena. The elementary’s team has worked with the same mentors for three years.
“We get to watch kids that start with zero experience — never picking up a power tool — using drills, using soldering irons and just being so proud of themselves and surprised that this is something they can actually do,” Griffiths said. “They can create a robot that works.”
Teams competed in two rounds of competition – an obstacle course with hula hoops and a mission course where they delivered weighted balls from one part of the pool, through a “door” to a nearby pool section.
“The theme is studying hydrothermal vents in the seafloor floor,” said Brian Novak, executive sponsor of Seaperch at Naval Reactors Facility.
The mission section is designed to “simulate deep-sea tasks an ROV would perform while exploring harsh environments,” according to an event brochure.
The robots were created by drilling holes in PVC pipes to increase their buoyancy.
“We had to solder a controller using just a motherboard and some pieces. We had to waterproof some motors and attach propellers to them using wax,” explained Jaxson Johansen, a student at Sugar-Salem Junior High School.
Schools participating this year include A.H. Bush Elementary School, Dora Erickson Elementary School, Shoshone-Bannock Junior/Senior High School. White Pine STEM Academy, Snake River Middle School, Sugar-Salem Junior High School and Westside Elementary School.
“They grow as a sixth grader who’s 12 years old and who doesn’t really have a lot of experience in STEM areas then being able to build their confidence and feel like, ‘I can do this,’” Griffiths said.
