PORT TOWNSEND — Forget video games. They’re passé.
Imagine operating a remote-controlled underwater vehicle — or ROV — then competing for recognition for your effort.
And learn Archimedes’ principle — any floating object displaces its own weight of fluid — while grabbing plastic rings off the floor of a swimming pool.
Science, exploration and fun come together in a fledgling effort in Port Townsend to engage children in oceanography by helping them build ROVs.
The program came about through the efforts of Michael Kunz, Julie Jablonski and John Downing who were awarded a modest grant last fall by the Marine Advanced Technology Education — or MATE — Center of Monterey, Calif.
MATE coordinates regional and international competitions and provides education grants to schools to interest students in underwater exploration.
The grant provided the money for the basic building blocks of ROVs — plastic pipe, electrical wires, switching boxes and propellers.
ROV classes, competition
During several Saturdays in April, Jablonski and Downing taught children at Blue Heron Middle School the science and math of ROVs, and several teams competed in the regional event this past May.
Kunz also had a team comprised of children he schools at home.
They hope to get the program into the local middle and high schools on a regular basis.
But short of that, they’re still committed to helping children and young adults build and operate ROVs.
On a recent Saturday, nine middle school girls spent the morning building their own ROVs with plastic tubing, wires, switches and propellers.
They then tested their engineering prowess by placing the square-shaped devices in the water at the Mountain View pool.
“I come from a family of engineers,” Jablonski said. “I’m an engineer. And it’s fun.
“This encourages kids in math and science, which is so important. These kids are the future.”
ROVs look like simple devices but they won’t work properly without attention to such fundamental scientific principles as buoyancy, thrust, displacement, gravity and pressure.
Both the vehicles built that Saturday operated well, a credit to the students’ attention to science and math.
Kunz home-schools his children and got them involved in regional ROV competitions at the Weyerhaeuser King County Aquatics Center in Federal Way.
His older sons competed at the inaugural event in 2006 while his younger girls are now involved.
Teams had to build and operate ROVs with the task of capping an oil well.
They also had to explain the physics of their devices as well as produce posters illustrating their efforts.
“It’s nerve-wracking and a challenge [to compete],” Kunz said.
“You get to see what other teams do. There are some really unique designs.”
Downing brings his knowledge and experience as a retired oceanographer to help the students with their projects.
“The basic principles are the same, whether it’s a $30,000 machine or one of these,” he said.
“They used huge ROVs to cap the well (referring to the British Petroleum disaster in the Gulf of Mexico a year ago), but it’s the same principle.”
Jablonski said the children learn teamwork as well as science both in building and operating the devices.
They collaborate on building the devices but also rely on each other while operating an ROV.
One person flips the switches for vertical and horizontal movement while another tends the electric umbilical cord to the machine while a third acts as a spotter.
Enjoys the challenge
Leilanna Kunz, 10, said she likes the challenge of constructing the ROVs.
“I do this so I can learn about vehicles and have fun,” she said.
“I’ve learned how ROVs work and it helps to understand stuff when you grow up. It gives you an idea of how things work.”
Lauren Taracka, 11, participated for the first time at the recent workshop at the Mountain View Pool.
“I wasn’t so sure about it, but when we started doing it, it was fun. I think putting the wires on it was the best,” she said.
Jablonski said they could use donations of 12-volt car batteries to run the ROVs as well as cash donations to purchase a portable tank in which to operate the devices.
She said the city of Port Townsend helped out by providing reduced fees for the pool while the YMCA provided classroom space for the Saturday workshop.
“This is just a great program,” she said.
“It’s hands-on and you get to see the results.
“If the electric wires are crossed or the props aren’t right or out of balance, they see the results.”
For more information on the ROV program, phone Jablonski at 360-385-5373.
For more information on MATE, see www.materover.org.
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Philip L. Watness is a freelance writer and photographer living in Port Townsend. He can be reached at whatnews@olypen.com.
