By Katherine Walton and Amelia Lovell
On Saturday May 13, the victorious Aptos High School Robotics Team known as Watsonville Firefighters Seal Team 1272 was the youngest team to compete in the Ranger Division of ROVs (remotely operated vehicles) held at Aptos High School. With their win, Watsonville Firefighters Seal Team 1272 will now compete at the International level against more than 60 teams traveling from around the world including Russia, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Middle East.
The International Competition will be held June 23-25th at Long Beach City College in Long Beach, California. To support our local ROV team on its way to International Competition, donate at www.gofundme.com/sealteam1272
The excitement in the air was real on May 13 at Aptos High School for the annual MATE or Marine Advanced Technology Education robotics competition; 54 teams composed of middle and high school students from across Northern California brought ROVs that they built throughout the school year. The ROVs perform highly specific underwater tasks in a series that imitate the real-life missions of marine scientists.
The Watsonville Firefighters Seal Team 1272 consisting of nine high school freshmen and one eighth grader won the advanced competitive class with an ROV named the Argo IV. It was crafted with aluminum tubing and over 30% of its parts were made in a 3D-printer.
Nearly every feature was uniquely designed by the team to perform complicated tasks. For most of the team, this was their third year in the program. They have such a good time together that when one of the teammates, Pratham Rathi, moved to San Ramon he commuted 1.5 hours each way for their meetings.
Throughout the build process, the team was advised by parent mentors and Joe Manildi, who runs the Aptos High robotics club.
“How cool it is that this is a group of girls and guys working together,” said parent Susan Walton. “It is awesome how this team came together, worked collaboratively, and used everyone’s skills to reach an upset victory. It was unexpected and terrific that this ‘outsider’ team of younger kids came out of the blue to snatch victory. It is a tribute to the MATE program that everyone is encouraged to participate and anyone can succeed.”
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Team members: Aptos High School: Cameron Barrett; Sun Woo Da Costa; Amelia Lovell; Keegan Martin; Jacob Sandler; Jamie Walton; Katherine Walton; Chris Whaley • Aptos Jr. High: Jordan Chin • Dougherty Valley High: Pratham Rathi
Parent mentors: Victor Da Costa and Mary Seamount (Sun Woo’s parents). Consultant: Joe Manildi from Aptos High School Robotics Club
Sponsor for the regional completion: Watsonville Firefighters Local 1272
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Team Interview
Why did you join the ROV club?
Katherine: I was already interested in marine sciences, so I wanted to explore another aspect of that.
Keegan: I became interested after it was presented to me. I saw where you can go with it and what you can get out of it.
Jacob: I’ve done Lego robotics in the past and I wanted to move onto something bigger and something that I could compete against other people with.
Amelia: I watched my brother go through a couple years of MATE ROV and saw how much he enjoyed it and learned from it, and my friends decided to join, and they encouraged me to join and so I did, and am enjoying it and am constantly learning.
Jamie: I was really interested in engineering and all the problem solving that went with it.
Sun Woo: My sister did it when she was in high school and it looked fun.
What do you like being on the ROV team?
Sun Woo: The competition is fun. Even the pressure is exciting.
Jamie: Everything you learn from the people around you.
Keegan: Being around people who are passionate about the same thing.
Katherine: I thought it was rewarding to be part of a group that was actually committed and wanted to put in the effort, because, usually in group projects in school, you are surrounded by people who don’t care as much as you. So being on a team where it’s the norm to be committed and willing to put in the effort was really awesome.
Keegan: Yea, it was so cool to be on a team that was committed to something and would pay attention. We got something done.
Jamie: And we took each other’s ideas seriously. I feel like not all teams are that way and it’s such an amazing opportunity.
Katherine: It’s a great experience when people respect our ideas as valid and something worth looking into.
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Presentation Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BzT8ryipmCq2MnNUamozZzFSMm8/edit