On February 20, 2026, Morton West High School hosted a regional SeaPerch underwater robotics competition, bringing together student teams to compete in pool-based engineering challenges.
SeaPerch is an international underwater robotics program designed to introduce K-12 students to basic engineering, design, and science concepts. Every year they host multiple events for students to test their Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) in pool-based challenges like Obstacle Course and a themed Mission Course.
Morton West Underwater Robotics team endured many roadblocks beyond the pool mission. During the first obstacle course—where students use their ROV to go through five obstacle hoops and return before the countdown finishes—West’s ROV’s wire that connected the motor to the tether and the battery snapped, requiring resoldering everything to keep competing.
“The most challenging part of today’s competition was definitely trying to get everything to work,” according to Sophomore Marvin Quiroz,
the team captain. Quiroz noted that one of the primary challenges to the first course was making adjustments, despite having a solid plan going into the competition.
“We had to go back and fix that as fast as we could. It was stressful, but we were able to fix it and come back to compete round one.”
The challenges saw Morton West’s team fall behind in the first course, but the team rallied during the Mission Course. Students had to control their ROV to complete small tasks underwater before the clock finished, training them to combat in live action to complete the objectives precisely and quickly.
Sophomore Christopher Aranda, leading Morton West’s ROV, did a phenomenal job to lead Morton West to third place in Mission Course. When asked about his performance, he responded “I was proud of mostly turning and maneuvering around the objects. I was imagining the ROV as a car, how I would drive.” Aranda concluded. “A lot of stuff may not go right when the time comes, and it wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be, but it was still a good experience to learn from.”
The host of the event: Mirella Borjon Padilla, associate director of 21st CCLC Pathways, commented about what stood out from the event, “So far, I think it’s the mission where they all see firsthand how robots can help us in these natural disasters where they have to recover different things. I think it’s been exciting overall, seeing students seeing their first obstacle course. I know that they worked hard to design their ROV’s.”
“I watched people come together in an emergency when we had a broken wire. The kids that had not seemed to be doing much in most of the program, stepped right up and took care of the soldering, redoing motors, pretty much rebuilding the vehicle in about 15 minutes,” Morton West Underwater Robotics’ coach Samatha Brenneman said.
She emphasized one thing from the event, “That no matter what challenges you run up against, it is really fun to do.” The team plans to continue refining their design and preparing for future competitions later this season.
