Baldwin’s SeaPerch team will compete in the international tournament this weekend at the University of Maryland.
This will be the third time in the past 11 years that Baldwin’s SeaPerch team has reached the international competition. Baldwin’s program had 48 students participating throughout the year, the most ever for the program here.
Gifted education teacher Jared Hoffman, who runs the program, said students design and troubleshoot their underwater “bots,” or robots, which they then pilot through obstacle courses during competitions.
The Baldwin team going to internationals consists of juniors Regan Eckert and Morgan Douglass, who will be competing with their bot, which they named King Goose. They earned their spot by coming in second in the regional competition.
That success boosted the team’s confidence in their bot.
“We were very stressed about regionals, but we did a lot better than we expected,” Douglass said.
To increase its speed, they have designed King Goose to have a V-shape, while typical bots in this competition are box-shaped.
“We wanted to go for more speed than overall function,” Douglas said.
Since then, Eckert and Douglass have been working to perfect their bot.
“One of the motors keeps falling off and it likes to turn a lot, so we keep trying to fix the motors so it’ll drive,” Douglass said earlier this week.
“It’s all trial and error,” Eckert said.
There are two courses in the competition, and the team has been working to get their bot to be able to successfully traverse both of them.
“We’re more confident in the obstacle course. However, we’re still working on the mission course,” Douglass said.
Hoffman said is impressed with the growth Douglas and Eckert have shown and by their ability to overcome hurdles.
“This year the girls are more relaxed,” Hoffman said. “I think they’re more looking to enjoy the opportunity.”
