Mount Laurel team takes state title in marine robotics - Burlington...

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1 Mount Laurel team takes state title in marine robotics - Burlington... Mount Laurel team takes state title in marine robotics By Peg Quann Staff writer Posted: Wednesday, May 14, :00 pm MOUNT LAUREL At one corner of the YMCA pool, a group of young teenagers stood, fully dressed, peering into the water. They watched as a small robot they had made dived below the surface to a gate that student swimmers had set up. The robot opened the gate with a front hook, then used the hook to retrieve weighted objects from the bottom of the pool. The teens are eighth-graders at the Thomas Harrington Middle School who belong to the school s HMS Seabots club. They are the best middle school students in New Jersey when it comes to designing and operating underwater robots. On Friday, five of them will head to the University of Southern Mississippi to compete against dozens of other marine robotics teams from around the country in the fourth National SeaPerch Challenge. SeaPerch is an educational program sponsored by the Office of Naval Research and managed by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International to teach students about marine robotics. The Harrington team is coming off two big wins in two competitions, capturing the state title in the SeaPerch event at Rowan University in Glassboro last month and a first-place finish in the Marine Advanced Technology Education event, also held recently at Rowan. In the MATE competition, Harrington s robot surpassed those built by teams in Pennsylvania, New York, Delaware, Maryland and New Jersey. Now the kids are looking forward to the weekend in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It s the ultimate college experience, said Sanjana Jampana, who is CEO of the team. It s like a fun graduation gift for us. The other students are Jonathan Procopio, 13; Ganesh Premarajah, 14; Jackson Bauer, 14; and Brian D Auria, 13. Their robotics adviser, Maureen Barrett, a seventh-grade STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) teacher, will accompany them, along with their parents. Seventh-graders are helping as in-pool assistants for the practices, but at the actual meet, we have professional divers in the water, Brian said. Sanjana said working with such a talented group has been a fun way to prepare for high school. She hopes someday to have a STEM-related career. 1 of 2 5/15/14 8:41 AM

2 Mount Laurel team takes state title in marine robotics - Burlington... Jonathan said he wasn t sure he would enjoy robotics when he joined the SeaBots, but he found that he really likes being a member of the team. With the recent news of robotic submarines looking for the Malaysian flight that disappeared over the Indian Ocean in March, he sees how valuable underwater technology has become. It s more than just a club. It s a way to make the world a better place, Jonathan said. We can use our robots to trap oil spills, Ganesh added. For their entrance in the competition this weekend, the students put together a 20-page project outline spearheaded by Sanjana. Other students worked on the mechanics of the robot, and Jackson and Brian concentrated on driving the robot. It did great on its first task retrieving the weights from the pool bottom. But then the motor failed before it was to practice for an obstacle course. Barrett said problems are to be expected. At the national meet, a triage center will be set up where the teams will be able to fix their robots before getting them back in the water. She s very proud of the students and their recent wins. They worked so hard all year. We ve been meeting since October. The last couple of weeks, they were working every day. The YMCA has let us practice every Tuesday for five weeks, Barrett said. It s just nice to see their dedication and hard work have paid off. 2 of 2 5/15/14 8:41 AM

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