The Forest Glen Middle School Sea, Air, and Land Team showcased their skills at the prestigious SeAL Challenge held on Saturday, May 18, 2024, at Col. Fred Cherry Middle School.
The SeAL Challenge, a program sponsored by the Department of Defense (DoD), offers high school-aged and, in some regions, middle school/junior high school-aged students the opportunity to engage in the engineering process by designing and constructing robotic systems. These systems are then put to the test in challenges that simulate real-world missions faced by the military, national security agencies, and first responders. Participants can choose to craft a submersible for the Sea Challenge, a drone for the Air Challenge, or a rover for the Land Challenge. Moreover, students gain insight into various career paths within or in support of the DoD, whether as civilians or in the armed forces.
Dubbed the SeAL Challenge, this engineering initiative creates a dynamic platform for students and youth organizations to collaborate with educators and volunteer engineering mentors from industry or local colleges. Participating teams have one semester to design, build, and practice with their unmanned vehicles equipped with intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) capabilities for their selected challenge.
The students dedicated two and a half months to meticulous planning, innovative problem-solving, and rigorous practice in readiness for the competition. Clad in T-Shirts expertly printed by Mrs. Mary Morris, they entered the competition arena exuding confidence!
Each team was tasked with crafting a Preliminary Design Report (PDR) outlining their understanding of competition requirements, blueprints for their remote-operated vehicles, practice schedules, and a comprehensive bill of materials. Noteworthy performances were observed in the evaluation of the PDRs, with the Sea Team earning 18 out of 20 points, the Air Team securing 19 out of 20, and the Land Team concluding with 16 out of 20 points.
The Sea Team encountered initial challenges but overcame them through adept problem-solving, strategic upgrades, and valuable input from a submarine engineer and supportive parents. Meanwhile, the Air Team maintained precision throughout the day, successfully executing their flights to interpret QR codes and deposit markers in designated zones during their tasks.
The Land Team encountered an obstacle early on, swiftly resolved it with a battery change, but faced time constraints in completing their morning challenge. After a re-energizing lunch break, they devised a successful strategy for the afternoon session where they raced against time to fulfill required tasks within 6 minutes, earning additional bonus challenges to conclude their run.
With eager anticipation, the teams awaited the awards ceremony, their efforts culminating in a triumphant moment as the 1st place winners were announced at both the middle school and high school levels. Congratulations are in order for the remarkable success of the Forest Glen Middle School SeAL Team, emerging victorious in the Sea Challenge, the Land Challenge, and the Air Challenge, claiming all three First Place Trophies. Well done, Wildcats!
