Bethel Navy JROTC Cadets build SeaPerch

Sea Perch in Bethel High School Navy JROTC

By Cadet Chief Purna Dalal, Public Affairs Officer

Bethel High School’s Navy JROTC program is working on a STEM (Science Technology Engineering Mathematics) project called SeaPerch. SeaPerch is an underwater robotics program sponsored by the Office of Naval Research. The students, who are all cadets and juniors at BHS, are building robotically operated underwater vehicles from kits. The program started last year with a grant from the Bethel Education Foundation, and continues this year with a supplemental grant graciously provided by Eaton Corporation here in Bethel.

This project teaches students to work collaboratively as they follow the exacting step by step process provided in a technical manual and online training videos at www.seaperch.org. By cooperating with other students in the class the cadets thoroughly analyze their work and construct a hydrodynamic SeaPerch robot. In order to prevent any malfunction in their design, students pay close attention to detail, a skill they will carry on throughout their lives. In the SeaPerch, only minimal building instructions are given, such as measuring and cutting exact PVC pipe sizes. After that it is expected that the students use their ingenuity to design a SeaPerch robot that will navigate through a competitive underwater obstacle course.

SeaPerch teaches traditional shop skills, such as soldering and tool safety. In addition to this, they have to pay attention to detail in order to create a neutrally-buoyant robot for the most efficient travel through an underwater obstacle course. All this while utilizing the science of buoyancy and displacement, and ensuring the waterproofing of the electrical wires so they don’t short circuit underwater. Additionally, their teacher, Lt. Commander Mark Dwinells USN (Ret), requires them to incorporate technology by using their Chromebooks to access cloud-based google sheets showing their step-by-step process using technical writing, a key requirement identified through his membership on the Bethel High School Business Advisory Council. Using the color coded spreadsheet the cadets and their teacher can track their steps, the hours involved, the procedures and lessons learned.

Image 1: (Left to Right): Cadets Jack Morris, Ameet Banala, and Ethan Webb building a SeaPerch from a kit.

Image 2: (L to R): Stephen Mosley, Clarisa Rosario, Nick Devita, Robert Lienhardt, and Dominic Kruzan utilizing a Chromebook to follow and log procedures while building their robot.

Image 3: (L to R): Grace Ballard and Jenny Hoyt look at Renae Gross carefully cutting their PVC pipe with precision.

Image 4: Purna Dalal, Olivia McGarry, Christiana Ruiz, and Patrick Joyce work collaboratively while following instructions from the website.

Image 5: Donovan Eaton and Matt Xavier follow the instruction while carefully measuring their PVC pipes with great accuracy.

Image 6: Petty Officer 2nd Class Lucas Carnevale teaching Cadets Johnathan DaSilva and Matt Xavier how to splice a wire