Media Alert: Mississippi State to host underwater robotics competition
February 27, 2014
Students participate in the 2013 SeaPerch South event. This year’s competition takes place Saturday, March 1.
STARKVILLE–Twenty teams of middle and high school students will compete Saturday, March 1 in the SeaPerch South regional competition hosted by the K-12 Outreach Office of the Bagley College of Engineering. The event begins at 9 a.m. at the Sanderson Center on Mississippi State’s campus.
SeaPerch South is an underwater robotics competition that promotes hands-on engineering and tool development through a research experience. The program teaches students basic skills in ship and submarine design while also encouraging them to explore different engineering concepts.
Each team in the challenge is asked to build a remotely operated vehicle that can travel underwater and perform certain tasks. Teams will be judged on completion of these tasks as well as, vehicle performance, innovative design, team presentations, design, notebooks, team spirit, and sportsmanship throughout the competition.
In addition to its student members, each team also has a trained teacher or mentor to assist in developing the underwater vehicle. The robots are built from a $150 kit that consists of low-cost, easily accessible parts.
Winners of Saturday’s competition will advance to the national competition later this spring.
For more information on the SeaPerch South Program visit www.seaperch.org.
Additional information about the Bagley College of Engineering can be found at, www.bagley.msstate.edu/outreach/seaperch-south. Media inquiries can be directed to Eric Heiselt at outreach@bagley.msstate.edu.
Schools participating in the competition include (by town):
COLUMBUS – Mississippi School for Math and Science
MADISON, Ala. – Clemens High School and Liberty Middle School
OCEAN SPRINGS – St. Martins High School
STARKVILLE — Starkville High School
By: Emily McConnell