Rules & Competition Category Details

General Rules

1. The Tether:
Throughout the competition, the vehicles must move only under their own power. Specifically, a team member pulling on the tether during the competition rounds is expressly prohibited and will be grounds for immediate disqualification.

2. Modifications to the Sea Perch Kit:
Teams are encouraged to think outside of the box. Teams have a budget of $15.00 to purchase any upgrades they deem necessary. Teams are not allowed to add additional thrusters and must use the motors that come with the kit. Everything else in the kit can be used at your own discretion. All purchases must have a receipt and that receipt must be included in the project notebook. Teams are permitted to change the shape and configuration of the sea perch. Hooks and attachments may be added/removed depending on the round. Extra batteries may be purchased or used from other kits and will not be included in your budget.

3. Competition Day

Only 2 team members are allowed on the pool deck during competition
All team members must wear shoes with rubber soles to the competition
Nothing other then the sea perch vehicle should be put into the pools
Each robot will be inspected and qualified by a judge prior to competition.
In the event that a vehicle is inadvertently interfered with during a trial or a malfunction of a vehicle’s parts (i.e. the motor) that is beyond the design and construction put together by the team, the panel of judges will have the authority to allow the team time to fix their vehicle and allow them to complete later in the round. These malfunctions will be evaluated on a case by case basis.

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Vehicle Performance

Round 1: Maneuvering
The first requirement of an underwater remotely operated vehicle is that it be able to maneuver successfully under its own power. If a vehicle cannot maneuver to the appropriate location to perform its task, the vehicle is of no use. Thus, the first round challenge is maneuvering.

Middle school course:
This round will consist of a submerged obstacle course involving large rings through which the vehicles must travel. Consideration towards optimal maneuverability, control, and speed should be given when constructing the Sea-Perch (motor placement and orientation, tether attachment, buoyancy and ballast, etc.) and your control box. This round will be scored based on who can successfully navigate the course the fastest.

High school course:
This round will consist of a submerged obstacle course involving large rings through which the vehicles must travel. Consideration towards optimal maneuverability, control, and speed should be given when constructing the Sea-Perch (motor placement and orientation, tether attachment, buoyancy and ballast, etc.) and your control box. This round will be scored based on who can successfully navigate the course the fastest

Round 2: Recovery
Many times underwater vehicles are used to retrieve things from the sea floor, or the floor of a harbor or port. The ability to recover objects off the sea floor depends on the vehicle’s ability to grasp or manipulate the object, and also to lift or carry it to some destination. If the object is too heavy, or it unbalances the craft, or the craft cannot get control of the object, the vehicle cannot successfully perform its mission.

Middle school course:
Remotely operated underwater vehicles almost never perform their duties within direct sight of the operators. Instead, they rely on remote sensors such as video cameras to enable them to achieve their goals. This can introduce difficulties though, as cameras can only reveal a portion of the vehicle’s surroundings. Care must be taken in design and operation of the vehicles such that the vehicle has the sufficient vision to complete its task, and that the vehicle is operated within the limits imposed by the restricted situational awareness. For this round, the Sea-Perch teams must have a rod or hook of some sort, and a camera fitted to their vehicle in order to retrieve objects off the bottom of the pool. The camera package will be give to the teams when they arrive on the pool deck. The objects will have a loop by which they can be picked up and will be of varying mass. Once picked up, the objects must be dropped into the team’s submerged collection bucket. This round will be scored based on the total mass of objects retrieved within the time limit. Considerations of buoyancy, thrust, hook placement and attachment, camera placement and attachment, and ballasting become more important in this round. The masses of objects will be given ahead of time, and the objects will be shape-coded.

High school course:
Remotely operated underwater vehicles almost never perform their duties within direct sight of the operators. Instead, they rely on remote sensors such as video cameras to enable them to achieve their goals. This can introduce difficulties though, as cameras can only reveal a portion of the vehicle’s surroundings. Care must be taken in design and operation of the vehicles such that the vehicle has the sufficient vision to complete its task, and that the vehicle is operated within the limits imposed by the restricted situational awareness. For this round, the Sea-Perch teams must have a rod or hook of some sort, and a camera fitted to their vehicle in order to retrieve objects off the bottom of the pool. The camera package will be given to the teams when they arrive on the pool deck. The objects will have a loop by which they can be picked up and will be of varying mass. Once picked up, the objects must be dropped onto a designated target area. The weights will get progressively heavier and more difficult to lift. This round will be scored based on the total number of weights moved into the target areas within the time limit. Considerations of buoyancy, thrust, hook placement and attachment, camera placement and attachment, and ballasting become more important in this round. The masses of objects will be given ahead of time, and the objects will be shape-coded.

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Team Presentations

Each team will make a maximum10-minute presentation to a panel of judges on the day of the competition. The team should present as though they are the sales team of the company that designed and built their sea perch. The client (panel of judges) has a recovery mission and they are screening possible companies to determine which sea perch model would be right for them. It is the sales teams’ responsibility to prove to the clients that their product is the best. The formal presentation will be followed by an informal 10-minute question, answer, and discussion period. At this time, teams that modified the original Sea Perch design should discuss their modifications. They should discuss the experiments they conducted during their design phase and what modifications came from them. At the conclusion of the question, answer, and discussion period, judges should have a clear understanding of how students implemented their basic knowledge of fluids and propulsion.

All teams must include the following in their presentation:

Company Name
Company Overview

Sales Team-Names and Titles of the 4-8 individuals presenting

Overview of the product

Technical specifications
Pictures
Charts/Drawings

Design Overview
Unique Attributes & Technical advantages over the competition
Budget information and implementation

High School Teams must also:

Hand out a corporate brochure to the clients which must include:

Mission/Vision statement of the company
Overview of the types of engineers involved in the process
Organizational Chart

Each member of the sales team must have a resume to distribute

The format for the presentation is open to creative interpretation and teams are encouraged to use technology in their presentations. An overhead projector, TV/VCR (DVD player upon request), lap top and LCD projector are all available. Additional equipment may be brought in but it must conform to the existing layout of the room.

A maximum of eight team members may present and a maximum of nine people per team will be allowed in the presentation room including the advisor. The presentation may be videotaped by one of the eight representatives in the room and this must be done without causing a disturbance.

A schedule of presentation times will be posted during the competition. Teams are advised to arrive at their designated presentation room 10-minutes prior to their scheduled start time. Teams who are more then 5-minutes late will not be allowed to present.

Teamwork Summary Notebook

Teams must demonstrate how they implemented the engineering process in their Teamwork Summary Notebook.

Teamwork Summary Notebooks should include:

Cover which includes the following information

School
School District
Team Name
Team Number
Teacher Name and Contact Information
Team website (if applicable)

Title Page
Table of Contents
Up to 20 pages that outline the teamwork that went into building the Sea Perch

Describe how your team demonstrated teamwork

Provide concrete examples of how team members worked together and how they helped other team members

What challenges did the team face and how did they overcome them?
How did the team split up responsibilities?

Who did what?
Did you encounter any problems?

What is the biggest lesson that the team learned?
What were the biggest factors of success for the team?

Team List
Feel free to include any photos, drawings, organizational charts, or any addition supporting information.
Experiment worksheets on basic underwater principals
Receipts for purchased materials.

Notes: Minimum font size is 12 pt and projects should use only 8 ½ " x 11" paper

Notebooks must be turned in the day of the competition.

Team Spirit & Sportsmanship

Teams are encouraged to show their team spirit during the competition. Judges will watch throughout the competition to determine the teams with the highest levels of team spirit.

Each team will sit together in the bleachers of the pool area. Teams are asked to have a team flag to identify their team to the judges.

Flag specifications should be:

Maximum flag pole height is 7 feet
Maximum flag dimensions are 3x3
Prominently display the school and team names
1 flag per school

Other ways to show school spirit:

Cheering for teammates during team competition
Demonstrate sportsmanship by cheering for other schools
Posters & signs
Team clothing
Cheers

For a pdf version of the 2008 rules click here