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Local high school students get rare exposure to the world of robotics

OJ Bartley of Faga'itua High School getting his hands and feet wet
blue@samoanews.com

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — Fifty students representing all local public and private schools, including Manu'a and even the American Samoa Community College (ASCC), gathered at the Tauese P.F. Sunia Ocean Center in Utulei yesterday morning for the opening session of a two-day Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) workshop co-hosted by NOAA's National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa (NMSAS) and the InvenTeam crew of Stockbridge High School in Michigan, led by robotics instructor Bob Richards and math teacher Lori Zemke.

A total of 13 Stockbridge students are in the territory to help their local peers get hands on experience - for the first time - of ROVs and the proper technique to build and operate one.

As part of the opening activities, students were separated out by school - four per team - and  were given 20 minutes to build the tallest free-standing balloon tower using nothing but a bag of balloons, scissors, and clear tape.

The challenge promoted intense teamwork and in the end, it was the Faasao Marist College Preparatory School team that came out shining, with a balloon tower that measured well over 9 feet.

"We're learning math, science, engineering, and technology so we can do something with it," Richards told the group of students. "To better not only ourselves, but our environment, and our ecosystem here in American Samoa….We're doing this same thing back in Michigan, trying to better our Great Lakes and preserve them for future generations."

In order to understand more about Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs), participating students were escorted to the swimming pool at nearby Sadies by the Sea where Richards made a brief demonstration. Some students even had the chance to control the ROV. "We want you to get an idea of how to design your own ROV, and tweak it, if necessary," Richards told the students.

Richards told Samoa News that he and his delegation arrived Thanksgiving night and will head back to the US Monday night. "We love it here," he said, adding that this is their first time in the territory and it may not be their last. In 2012, Richards and a group of students visited Palau.

"We would love to come back to American Samoa someday," he said.

Today, students will be completing their ROV control box and frame, and they will have the chance to test out their new underwater creations.

This past Monday, the InvenTeam deployed an underwater ROV and camera system in the Aunu'u Sanctuary area.