Rotorua Primary School AquaBots team putting in the hard yards for international competition

Rotorua Primary School's The Devil Marines AquaBots team is fundraising in hopes of attending an international competition in the United States - (from left) Mereana Tawhai, 11, Tyson Cunningham, 10, and Deborah Peake, 11. Photo / Andrew Warner

A Rotorua Primary School AquaBots team is working hard to fundraise and put their best underwater robot forward for an international competition.

Tyson Cunningham, 10, Deborah Peake, 11, and Mereana Tawhai, 11, make up The Devil Marines team, and have qualified for the International SeaPerch competition. It is to be held at Maryland University, Washington DC, United States, in May.

The Year 5-6 AquaBot team placed first overall in the primary division at the 2022 Aquabots Nationals, held at the Otumoetai Pools last year.

Out of seven tasks within the national competition, The Devil Marines placed first in the offshore fish pen, first in the factsheet, second in the obstacle course, second in the quiz, and second in the interview, placing them as the overall winners for the primary category.

The underwater robotics competition involves constructing and fine-tuning an underwater robot, driving it through underwater obstacle courses and challenges, and presenting to a panel of judges outlining the methods and processes used.

The team says they had felt joy and excitement when they won the primary division at nationals and qualified for the International SeaPerch competition.

They said it was going to cost a lot of money to make the trip over to Maryland, so they had been doing fundraisers such as holding a gala and selling treats like cotton candy, toffee apples, brownies and cookies.

As well as fundraising efforts, the team have to continue to work on and improve their AquaBot project.

This includes studying the new rules, designing upgrades for their underwater robot, updating the technical design report, and putting together a video.

When asked how they thought it would feel at an international competition, the team said stressful and nerve-wracking, but that they looked forward to meeting teams from other countries.

Deborah says what she enjoys about AquaBots is the learning she gets from it. “I want to follow my dad’s footsteps in engineering, and I like learning how things work.”

For Mereana, she enjoys the opportunities that AquaBots provides and the practical work involved.

Tyson says he likes working together as a team on all the different challenges.

The school’s tour organiser, Layla Risk, says it is an amazing opportunity for the team and they become role models for other kids.

She says they are fundraising to have 11 people go over to the international competition this year, including the team, parents and staff.

The school’s Year 7-8 team made it to the SeaPerch competition in the US last year, which helped to boost their pupils’ interest in AquaBots, she says.

This has led to Rotorua Primary School developing a Young Engineers Club to help get more students involved in engineering opportunities.

Layla says the trip last year with the Year 7-8 team was a great experience and the kids did really well. “They really enjoyed themselves and put in the hard yards.”