Diving deep: Students across Wisconsin compete in 8th Annual underwater robot competition
CBS 58 MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Kids from across Wisconsin are diving into the deep end and putting their engineering skills to the test.
On Sunday, 26 teams of students built and operated underwater robots at the Milwaukee Navy League 8th Annual Southeast Wisconsin Regional SeaPerch Competition.
The future of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) was put on display at the University of Milwaukee.
"For our competition we built an ROV, then we built a claw that folds in and out for our mission course," said Cadet Chief Master Sergeant James Coghlan, Civil Air Patrol.
Robots that can perform tasks underwater.
"They have to navigate an obstacle course which is the five rings over here and they go through there for time," said Erik Wolbach, Milwaukee Council of National Navy League STEM Chairperson.
"They have to do the mission course which is over here for the divers are at that they have to complete certain tasks to score the most number of points. They can in eight minutes that’s where the creativity really comes in the way cause they have to move things pick things up closed doors lotta different tasks."
A regional competition that can have them traveling and competing with other kids from around the world.
"First, second and third place teams move onto the international tournament held in the university of Maryland College Park in D.C. and that happens in June and they get to compete against teams from around the world," said Wolbach.
The STEM chairperson says this national program teaches them skills you can't learn from a book.
"Perseverance is usually one of the big things and that’s hard to just teach every day in a class you have to come up with a project that’s not so easy for them to do so that they have to struggle through it and learn troubleshooting and that’s what real world engineers do. They don’t get it right the first time," said Wolbach.
He says whether or not they want to pursue a career in STEM, they will take away skills to better prepare them for their future.
"I plan on going to MIT to do aerospace engineering and I think here are lots of work together as a team, which I’ll do in Engineering in any engineering field and learn a lot of prototyping in the engineering design process which I’ll do later on." said Coghlan.
