Mar 2 2011
Sixth grade students from Castle North Middle School participated in the SeaPerch Challenge conducted at the University of Southern Indiana's pool on February 5, 2011. At the SeaPerch Challenge, two teams from Castle North Middle School secured the top four positions.
Students participating were expected to build a SeaPerch frame by cutting and drilling PVC pipes and pool noodles. Following this, the students took precautions to protect their motors by covering it with tape and sealing them in wax filled containers. The next step was to mount the motors to the vehicle frame and fix the control box.
Students were supplied with two different types of control boxes. Three teams out of five used a white box that required soldering pins to the board and the remaining two teams used a black box by soldering the wires together.
The final challenge faced by the students was to connect all of the components and test the motors. Students had to make minute adjustments by desoldering and resoldering the motors and control boxes.
During the testing stage, the teams figured out that the vehicles were too buoyant to submerge. Each team solved the buoyancy problem either by eliminating any additional weight rendered by the pool noodles or by adding weight.
The SeaPerch Challenge featured a sprint and an obstacle course for which the teams raced with their vehicles down a rope and back. Each team finished the obstacle course by making their SeaPerch travel through four underwater gates.
Source: http://www.warrick.k12.in.us/