Northeast's SeaPerch team qualifies for international competition

GLENDA SANDERS |, The Meridian Star, Miss.
·2 min read

Feb. 8—Northeast Lauderdale High School's Navy JROTC's SeaPerch team was named overall champion at the recent inaugural Marion Military Institute Central Alabama SeaPerch Competition.

As a result of their win, the team has qualified to travel to the University of Maryland on May 31 through June 1 to compete in the 2024 International SeaPerch Challenge, said retired Cmdr. Chad West, Northeast's Navy JROTC senior naval science instructor.

In the SeaPerch program, cadets use their engineering skills to design and construct an underwater robot, or remotely operated vehicle. During competition, team members use handheld controllers to navigate their robot through a series of underwater obstacles in a swimming pool that tests maneuverability, control and utility.

"They really enjoyed the technical aspect of all of this. They had to do the electronic soldering of all of the equipment and components, and it was really fun for them," West said. "They also enjoyed writing the technical design report describing what they learned, what worked in their design, and what they had to modify after taking it to the pool and testing it.

"It was a great experience for them. I think they learned a lot," he said.

The Central Alabama SeaPerch Competition took place on Feb. 3 on the campus of Marion Military Institute in Marion, Alabama. The Northeast SeaPerch team won first place in all events and was the competition's overall champion.

West said the competition consisted of 4 elements, including a technical design report, a real world innovation poster, a community outreach presentation and an ROV operation through an underwater pool obstacle course.

The Northeast Navy JROTC started its SeaPerch program last school year, which did not give team members much time to design, build and test their own remotely operated vehicle.

So this is the team's first year competing, West said, and the Marion Military Institute contest was their first competition.

"We weren't able to compete last year. We just practiced so the cadets could become familiar with the system and operating the ROV," he said. "This was our first ever competition at MMI."

Members of this year's SeaPerch team are cadets Dylan Lawrence and Antoinette Brown, both juniors, and Allie Dean and Gerrian Elam, both sophomores. Lawrence serves as the team captain.

Northeast's team will compete next on March 23 at the 2024 Alabama SeaPerch Remotely Operated Vehicle Competition, which will be hosted by the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Mobile, Alabama.

"We are working on a plan to partner with the Northeast Middle School science club to introduce them to underwater robotics," West said. "Our goal is to share this experience with them in order to generate interest in robotics and Navy JROTC."

Contact Glenda Sanders at gsanders@themeridianstar.com.