SeaPerch program creates waves of imagination

COEUR d'ALENE - With precision and diligence, Ethan Thompson placed a motor in a thruster housing, but not before smearing it with a goopy tan substance.

"What you do is you strip the wires, we hooked it up, then we solder it together and then we stuck wax in here, then we put the motor in," said Ethan, 12. "That waterproofs it, because water can't go through wax. When these are in the water, they can go through without having trouble."

The Lakes Magnet Middle School sixth-grader was eager and focused as he worked on parts of his team's remotely operated vehicle (ROV) Thursday afternoon during a SeaPerch session in robotics teacher Ben Markham's classroom. Ethan and 21 others in sixth through eighth grades applied their scientific skills to assembling the control housings, motors and frames of their soon-to-be aquatic robots. The project fueled their imaginations as they strapped on safety goggles and prepared to be inventive.

"They (ROVs) can probably reach deeper depths in the sea," Ethan said. "I've heard on the news that for some reason our land space is not as much. Maybe someday we can make, like, an underwater robot so that people can live under the water, because there is so much room under the sea. It's just something I've thought about."

The SeaPerch program is a national, hands-on educational project that provides low-cost kits for students to build ROVs using items such as PVC pipe, wire and wax with tools including saws, pliers and soldering irons. SeaPerch at Lakes is sponsored by Gizmo-CDA and supported by a grant provided by the U.S. Navy. The Office of Naval Research sponsors the national program; SeaPerch emphasizes basic engineering and science as well as teamwork, problem solving and technical applications. It also introduces students to careers and concepts associated with naval architecture and naval, ocean and marine engineering.

"I'm just putting in a little wire," explained sixth-grader Rebekah Intermill, 12, as she worked to place a small circuit board in a control box. "It's not really put together yet."

Rebekah said she likes math and science and has plans to be a marine biologist and a gymnast. She has previous experience in robotics and was excited to enroll in SeaPerch.

"I'm looking forward to racing the robots in competitions," she said. "I was in robotics and I wanted to do the Gizmo thing and I thought it was really fun, so I decided to make my own (ROV) in SeaPerch."

The students will continue to work on the ROVs until they have the controls and customizations completed. The buoyancy and manageability of their creations will be tested in pools and then they will advance to the SeaPerch challenge in Cheney at the end of February.

"It's a race that has to do with being fast and being agile, like, go through stuff because we're going to have hoops to go through," said seventh-grader Avery Gephart, 12.

Gizmo-CDA volunteer Kraig Lysek of Coeur d'Alene worked closely with the students who assembled control boxes, reiterating the importance of patience and not forcing pieces where they don't easily go.

"It's a form of expression and it takes away fear of fixing, creating stuff," Lysek said. "They learn how to do things like solder, how to cut PVC (pipe), so it opens up a lot of avenues for them to just create stuff on their own. And it's fun."

Markham walked around the room with a clipboard, checking on each team's progress. He said when Gizmo-CDA approached Lakes about providing the limited SeaPerch opportunity to the students, everyone was on board with the idea.

"This is just another opportunity, it's that exposure to technology and the idea that this is a very viable thing that they can do outside of school," Markham said.

He said he was pleased with how submerged the students were in their projects.

"This is what you aim for every day, this is what your goal is," he said. "Everybody is doing something right now."

Info: www.seaperch.org.