Aquatic robots battled underwater at Cabrillo High School in Lompoc on Tuesday.
The school is holding its annual interclass R.O.V. competition this week.
There are approximately 180 students involved in the competition, and they’ve built about 50 robots for it.
The students say it took about four weeks to create the robots and make them waterproof. They used PVC pipes and zip ties to help with the waterproofing.
The competition is set up as if the robots are exploring a sunken ship. They have to maneuver through an obstacle course and pick up various items.
“It was a lot more stressful than I thought,” said Travis Blackstone, Cabrillo High School Senior. “There’s a lot of people hovering around you talking about it and you hear all of it so it makes it really hard to keep focus when you are trying to do the ROV and it can really frustrate you.”
Their teacher says the students learn a variety of skills through the robotics project, including mathematics, physics, and chemistry, as well as writing, reading, and speaking.
The competition continues through Thursday.
