The Bath Area Family YMCA will host the SeaPerch competition for the sixth time Saturday. The competition — part of a nationwide program to foster hands-on science and engineering learning in students — features aquatic robots constructed by middle schoolers and high schoolers that will be tested by a series of underwater obstacle courses and judged on a point system.

The winner of the competition will move on to represent Maine in national competition later this spring.

Mt. Ararat High School has sent teams to the nationals three years running, and science teacher and SeaPerch coach Glen Evans has high hopes for this year’s teams.

“The kids are really putting it together,” said Evans. “We’re practicing, improving and adjusting, and feeling like we are going to put our best effort out there.”

Last year at the nationals, Evans said his team finished 11th out of around 75 teams. Robot parts are provided to the teams by SeaPerch four months in advance of the competition, and the team members use that time to build and test the robots.

Senior Eliot Bowie said Thursday that he’s spent the past week fine-tuning his team’s robot in preparation for Saturday’s competition.

“We had a few setbacks, but it’s running pretty smoothly now,” said Bowie, who joined the SeaPerch team last year.

Bowie and the other students use a four-by-six-foot pool to troubleshoot robots and practice smaller versions of the obstacles. Some of the obstacles include a hoop course and a challenge where cubes and rings are placed on PVC pipes by the robots. All obstacles are timed. Teams are also judged on their engineering notebook, which contains sketches and renderings of their robot.

Senior Gage Palmer went to the nationals two years ago as a sophomore, and said he has acted as an unofficial leader to the eight other students this year.

“I try to chime in when I see something that is not going to work, but for the most part I let them figure things out for themselves,” said Palmer. “I always enjoy the competition of this event. It’s fun to do because I like to meet the other people, and of course pilot the robot. It’s just fun to do. It’s like playing a video game but it’s real life.”

Teams will begin competition Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Bath YMCA. For more information, visit www.seaperch.org.

bgoodridge@timesrecord.com

• TEAMS WILL BEGIN competition Saturday at 11 a.m. at the Bath YMCA. For more information, visit www.seaperch.org.

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