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Robotic mission brings student success

Tiffany Tuell

(Updated: Thursday, May 20, 2010, 9:08 AM)

Three teams from Mountain Home School Charter and one team from Glacier High School recently competed, along with 49 teams from across California, in the 10th Annual Remotely Operated Vehicle Contest in Monterey -- hands on experience in the life of a marine engineer.

While their second year to participate didn't bring them the title "overall champion" like last year, the teams still won a number of awards and were able to gain valuable experience in working with ROVs and marine technology.

Each team had to build an underwater ROV that could move in three dimensions and in a 12-foot deep pool. The ROV then performed two missions as if it were at the Loihi seamount which is an active, undersea volcano off the coast of Hawaii. They had to gather organisms from a crater on the summit of Loihi called "Pele's Pit."

The event was titled "ROVs in Treacherous Terrain: Science Erupts on Loihi, Hawaii's Undersea Volcano." The first mission was conducted in shallow water to collect new species of crustaceans, bacterial mats and spires -- imitations were used in the competition -- for scientists to study just as they are in real life. They had to collect all three samples within 10 minutes.

The mid-water mission required participants to bring the Hawaii Undersea Geological Observatory back to life using their ROV. The robot had to deploy a high-rate hydrophone to the sea floor and connect the HRH to the HUGO junction box. This mission also had to be completed in 10 minutes.

"This is cutting edge because these are things scientists are trying to accomplish now and there's a real need and market for marine engineers," said Eric Hagen, charter teacher for MHSC. "My hope is to develop students that want to continue this and learn and grow and improve."

David Nobles, 14, a freshman at Glacier High School, was on one of the four teams that competed.

"It was a very unique class and it gets you started in a career of engineering underwater. The hardest thing was the time it took to build," said Nobles who also participated in last year's event. He said his second year competing was much different from his first. "It was harder this year because last year the tasks were easier with smaller items to pick up."

"I love it because I think I love to see students try something and fail at it initially but then they learn from their mistakes, come back and modify and change it and the teams are forced to work together," Hagen said.

Joseph Wagner, 14, an eighth grader at Mountain Home School Charter, participated for the first time.

"I liked that we could take an idea or a combination of our ideas and turn it into something," Wagner said. "I loved working on the ROV and changing things to see what worked best. I also thought it was hard but good to learn how to work with a team of people who had very different personalities. I loved the ROV project and want to do it again."

Teams were judged on the success of their missions, design and innovation and team work.

Junior High team "El Portal" with Avery Moore and Isabel Sun received first place for the Display Board and Presentation out of 39 Junior High teams. They also came in fourth for their overall design and innovation of their ROV. Junior High team "Water Enterprise Technology" with Dylan Ashcraft and Mathew Ball, placed seventh in the shallow water competition and ninth overall.

The Glacier High School team of Mathew Baker and David Nobles received third place for their display presentation.

The event was sponsored by Marine Advanced Technology Education Center and Monterey Peninsula College.