Friday, October 5, 2018
  Community, Around Campus, Science & Technology

By Victoria Brito

BROWNSVILLE, TEXAS – More than 30 middle school and high school teams from across the Rio Grande Valley participated in the annual U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge, a staple of Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.  

More than 20 middle school and high school teams from across the Rio Grande Valley participated in the annual U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge, a staple of Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, on Friday, Oct. 5. The SeaPerch Challenge tested the competitor’s engineering instincts as they raced remotely operated vehicles (ROV) through various underwater obstacle courses. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)
More than 20 middle school and high school teams from across the Rio Grande Valley participated in the annual U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge, a staple of Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, on Friday, Oct. 5. The SeaPerch Challenge tested the competitor’s engineering instincts as they raced remotely operated vehicles (ROV) through various underwater obstacle courses. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)

Held for the first time at the Brownsville ISD Margaret Clark Aquatic Center on Friday, Oct. 5, the SeaPerch Challenge tested the competitor’s engineering instincts as they raced remotely operated vehicles (ROV) through various underwater obstacle courses. The teams worked on their ROVs weeks in advance of the competition, assembling, testing and perfecting their vehicles, giving them hands-on experience in submarine building. 

This year’s overall winners, included:

  • Los Fresnos High School, first place
  • Lopez Early College High School (Team 1), second place
  • Harlingen High School, third place  

TIME AND DEDICATION 

The morning was filled with excitement as the students patiently waited for their school’s turn to race their ROVs. The race consisted of two underwater obstacle and challenge courses the teams had to complete.  

Navigating the ROVs through five underwater rings as quickly as possible and grabbing rings and cubes on an underwater platform, were some of the challenges the teams took part in. The goal of the challenges was to attain points as each obstacle course was worth only 30 percent of the total score, with an interview portion comprising 40 percent of the overall score.  

For robotics team members of the Vanguard Academy in Alamo, the start of the school year meant preparing for this challenge. In the second year of doing the SeaPerch, the team of seven learned to be crafty, and recycled their motor from last year, adding new components and redesigning the entire shell of their ROV.  

Serving as the team engineer for Vanguard for a second year was Jose Cantu, a freshman, who said teamwork was important in making this project, which took five weeks to complete, a success.

“You have to put in a lot of time and thinking,” Cantu said. “But having good teamwork really makes the difference.”

TRIALS AND TRIUMPHS 

For first-time participants, like Adrian Gutierrez and Raymundo Gonzalez, eighth grade students at Garcia Middle School in Brownsville, competing in the challenge really tested their minds and patience.  

“We had a failure with the rings,” Gutierrez said. “The rings would not stick to our hook, but we did really well with the cubes. We got a few on the platform, but some of them fell off and we lost points.” 

As Gutierrez operated the controls, Gonzalez said he was in charge of operating the wires.  

“As the ROV moved forward, I released the wire little by little so the ROV wouldn’t slow down,” Gonzalez said. “The engineering has been fun and robotics, in general, is cool.”

HESTEC Week concludes Saturday, Oct. 6 with Community Day, 4-9 p.m., at the UTRGV Edinburg Campus.


GALLERY

Competition tests student’s minds and patience

The student team gets interviewed by judges.

Competition tests student’s minds and patience

  Friday, October 05, 2018 — More than 20 middle school and high school teams from across the Rio Grande Valley participated in the annual U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge, a staple of Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, on Friday, Oct. 5. The SeaPerch Challenge tested the competitor’s engineering instincts as they raced remotely operated vehicles (ROV) through various underwater obstacle courses. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)

Robot begins challenge under water.

Competition tests student’s minds and patience

  Friday, October 05, 2018 — More than 20 middle school and high school teams from across the Rio Grande Valley participated in the annual U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge, a staple of Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, on Friday, Oct. 5. The SeaPerch Challenge tested the competitor’s engineering instincts as they raced remotely operated vehicles (ROV) through various underwater obstacle courses. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)

Underwater robot makes its way through course.

Competition tests student’s minds and patience

  Friday, October 05, 2018 — More than 20 middle school and high school teams from across the Rio Grande Valley participated in the annual U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge, a staple of Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, on Friday, Oct. 5. The SeaPerch Challenge tested the competitor’s engineering instincts as they raced remotely operated vehicles (ROV) through various underwater obstacle courses. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)

Student gets ready to submerge robot.

Competition tests student’s minds and patience

  Friday, October 05, 2018 — More than 20 middle school and high school teams from across the Rio Grande Valley participated in the annual U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge, a staple of Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, on Friday, Oct. 5. The SeaPerch Challenge tested the competitor’s engineering instincts as they raced remotely operated vehicles (ROV) through various underwater obstacle courses. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)

Students work as a team during the challenge.

Competition tests student’s minds and patience

  Friday, October 05, 2018 — More than 20 middle school and high school teams from across the Rio Grande Valley participated in the annual U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge, a staple of Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, on Friday, Oct. 5. The SeaPerch Challenge tested the competitor’s engineering instincts as they raced remotely operated vehicles (ROV) through various underwater obstacle courses. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)

Team members concentrate on their robot maneuvers.

Competition tests student’s minds and patience

  Friday, October 05, 2018 — More than 20 middle school and high school teams from across the Rio Grande Valley participated in the annual U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge, a staple of Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, on Friday, Oct. 5. The SeaPerch Challenge tested the competitor’s engineering instincts as they raced remotely operated vehicles (ROV) through various underwater obstacle courses. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)

And the competition begins.

Competition tests student’s minds and patience

  Friday, October 05, 2018 — More than 20 middle school and high school teams from across the Rio Grande Valley participated in the annual U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge, a staple of Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, on Friday, Oct. 5. The SeaPerch Challenge tested the competitor’s engineering instincts as they raced remotely operated vehicles (ROV) through various underwater obstacle courses. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)

U.S. Navy members help prepare the course.

Competition tests student’s minds and patience

  Friday, October 05, 2018 — More than 20 middle school and high school teams from across the Rio Grande Valley participated in the annual U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge, a staple of Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, on Friday, Oct. 5. The SeaPerch Challenge tested the competitor’s engineering instincts as they raced remotely operated vehicles (ROV) through various underwater obstacle courses. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)

The teams work hard to get their robots through obstacle course.

Competition tests student’s minds and patience

  Friday, October 05, 2018 — More than 20 middle school and high school teams from across the Rio Grande Valley participated in the annual U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge, a staple of Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, on Friday, Oct. 5. The SeaPerch Challenge tested the competitor’s engineering instincts as they raced remotely operated vehicles (ROV) through various underwater obstacle courses. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)

Members of the U.S. Navy prepare the course for competition.

Competition tests student’s minds and patience

  Friday, October 05, 2018 — More than 20 middle school and high school teams from across the Rio Grande Valley participated in the annual U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge, a staple of Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, on Friday, Oct. 5. The SeaPerch Challenge tested the competitor’s engineering instincts as they raced remotely operated vehicles (ROV) through various underwater obstacle courses. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)

A judge checks out the team’s robot.

Competition tests student’s minds and patience

  Friday, October 05, 2018 — More than 20 middle school and high school teams from across the Rio Grande Valley participated in the annual U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge, a staple of Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, on Friday, Oct. 5. The SeaPerch Challenge tested the competitor’s engineering instincts as they raced remotely operated vehicles (ROV) through various underwater obstacle courses. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)

Audience watches the SeaPerch Challenge participants.

Competition tests student’s minds and patience

  Friday, October 05, 2018 — More than 20 middle school and high school teams from across the Rio Grande Valley participated in the annual U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge, a staple of Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, on Friday, Oct. 5. The SeaPerch Challenge tested the competitor’s engineering instincts as they raced remotely operated vehicles (ROV) through various underwater obstacle courses. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)

Robot makes its way through one of the challenges.

Competition tests student’s minds and patience

  Friday, October 05, 2018 — More than 20 middle school and high school teams from across the Rio Grande Valley participated in the annual U.S. Navy SeaPerch Challenge, a staple of Hispanic Engineering, Science and Technology (HESTEC) Week at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, on Friday, Oct. 5. The SeaPerch Challenge tested the competitor’s engineering instincts as they raced remotely operated vehicles (ROV) through various underwater obstacle courses. (UTRGV Photo by David Pike)

  • Thumbnail: The student team gets interviewed by judges.
  • Thumbnail: Robot begins challenge under water.
  • Thumbnail: Underwater robot makes its way through course.
  • Thumbnail: Student gets ready to submerge robot.
  • Thumbnail: Students work as a team during the challenge.
  • Thumbnail: Team members concentrate on their robot maneuvers.
  • Thumbnail: And the competition begins.
  • Thumbnail: U.S. Navy members help prepare the course.
  • Thumbnail: The teams work hard to get their robots through obstacle course.
  • Thumbnail: Members of the U.S. Navy prepare the course for competition.
  • Thumbnail: A judge checks out the team’s robot.
  • Thumbnail: Audience watches the SeaPerch Challenge participants.
  • Thumbnail: Robot makes its way through one of the challenges.

ABOUT UTRGV

The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) was created by the Texas Legislature in 2013 as the first major public university of the 21st century in Texas. This transformative initiative provided the opportunity to expand educational opportunities in the Rio Grande Valley, including a new School of Medicine, and made it possible for residents of the region to benefit from the Permanent University Fund – a public endowment contributing support to the University of Texas System and other institutions.

UTRGV has campuses and off-campus research and teaching sites throughout the Rio Grande Valley including in Boca Chica Beach, Brownsville (formerly The University of Texas at Brownsville campus), Edinburg (formerly The University of Texas-Pan American campus), Harlingen, McAllen, Port Isabel, Rio Grande City, and South Padre Island. UTRGV, a comprehensive academic institution, enrolled its first class in the fall of 2015, and the School of Medicine welcomed its first class in the summer of 2016.