Robotics Team to Compete for National Awards in Maryland

Nine students from Skyline Gila River are to compete at the 2024 International SeaPerch Challenge to be held at the University of Maryland-College Park on May 31st to June 1st of the present year.  

This group of students participated at the I Rise Foundation Regional in Chandler, AZ the past April 13th.  

They excelled in their performance, having been awarded the first place in the Middle School division, and first and second places in the High School division.  

At the 2024 International SeaPerch Challege, students will complete two tasks: one on land, and one in the pool. On land, teams show off their engineering skills through technical papers and presentations. In the pool, they navigate their SeaPerch remotely operated vehicle (ROV) through a series of obstacles inspired by the real world that test maneuverability, control, and utility. 

Our team demonstrated itself to be the fastest team in the pool, granting us a spot in the International Challenge. This is unprecedented for the Gila River Indian Community. This will be the first time the name of the community will be in this International Challenge. An opportunity our students have been eagerly working on for months. SeaPerch coordinators informed us that they will be the first all-Native American team to compete in this event.  

They are currently working on a Real-World Innovation Project relevant to the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC). Our team learned about Governor Lewis’ vision of water settlement in the GRIC. The importance of water storage and riparian ecosystem restoration along the Gila River streamed serves as an example of community resilience and autonomy. This innovation project challenges teams to explore real-world applications for underwater ROVs. Teams are invited to identify a real-world issue and design a SeaPerch ROV to address the issue.