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Danville High Schoolers Prep for International Underwater Robotics Competition

A group of Danville High School students is diving into science this week. They’re gearing up for an international underwater robotics competition. The Danville...

A group of Danville High School students is diving into science this week.

They’re gearing up for an international underwater robotics competition.

The Danville High School SeaPerch team qualified for the 2019 International SeaPerch Challenge. This is the second year the team has made it to the international competition.

It will be held this weekend, June 1 through June 2, at the University of Maryland College Park campus.

Newswatch 16’s Ryan Leckey spotlighted the team and the robotic creations on Wednesday.

The students have spent the last two months redesigning and rebuilding their robot to perform the tasks of the new underwater challenge course.

The SeaPerch team practices their underwater maneuvers at the Danville Area Community Center pool.

The course is loosely based on the challenges the team in Thailand had while attempting to create a safe way to rescue the students trapped in a cave last summer.

The students’ bot needs to be able to open basket tops, move objects from one location to another accurately, and recover pieces from another bot that were left behind,  all under water.

According to the website, “SeaPerch is 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. The SeaPerch Program provides students with the opportunity to learn about robotics, engineering, science, and mathematics (STEM) while building an underwater ROV as part of a science and engineering technology curriculum. Throughout the project, students will learn engineering concepts, problem-solving, teamwork, and technical applications."

The United States Navy supports the students' SeaPerch initiatives, using it as a platform to teach youngsters about the types of obstacles Naval engineers have to overcome when dealing with underwater rescue and recovery operations.

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