Robotics

SeaPerch: Dive into Engineering and Environmental Action

SeaPerch is robot with a mission to teach students about robotics and the impact of humans on aquatic environments.

By: Spriha Mohanty, Journalist

May 28, 2025

Soft Robotic Arm

SeaPerch is an innovative, underwater robot with the purpose of teaching students how to build an underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle(ROV) while helping the environment. Students build the ROV from a low-priced kit, easily accessible parts, and help from their teachers. After building their robot, they get the hands-on experience of testing and modifying them in a water environment.

Purpose

Building a SeaPerch ROV teaches students many different skills in ship and submarine design, encouraging students who would like to search for a career in the engineering field. Additionally students gain knowledge of tool safety, technical procedures, and life skills such as:

Vehicle performance-maneuvering and object recovery
Innovative design
Public speaking skills from team presentations
Teamwork
Engineering Notebooks-document planning, design, constructions, and testing
Career possibilities
Soldering/tool safety and switches

The program gets students fully involved in how engineers design things. This includes coming up with ideas, picking materials, building, trying things out and making them better. By using easy-to-find and cheap stuff, students get hands-on skills in basic engineering rules. They about buoyancy, propulsion, vectors, electricity circuits, ergonomics, waterproofing, dept measurement, biological sampling, and other concepts as well.

Environmental Impact

By tasking students with underwater missions that mirror real-world environmental challenges, the SeaPerch program gives a deep understanding of human impact on aquatic ecosystems. Whether designing ROVs to simulate oil spill cleanup, monitor coral reef health, or collect data on water quality, students directly engage in many different issues. This hands-on interaction raises a sense of connection to the underwater world and highlights the consequences of pollution, habitat destruction, and other detrimental activities. Additionally, because students are required to research about these issues and implement it into their ROV, it creates solutions to these problems as well.

The Competition

The SeaPerch Challenge is where students show off the underwater robots they built. Teams bring their ROVs and try to complete fun tasks in a pool, like going through obstacles or picking things up. It’s a chance to see how well their robot works and a fun way to compete with other students to see how theirs compares to their peers. Some recent topics in the competitions have included deep sea mining and collecting data on hydrothermal vents.

SeaPerch is a cool way for students to learn about science and building things, and also why it’s important to take care of the water. Building and competing with the underwater robots in the SeaPerch Challenge makes learning fun and sticks with them.

SeaPerch: Dive into Engineering and Environmental Action

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