Section 2: Pool Courses

This section includes the following sections:

The competition will include two in-pool courses:

The Obstacle Course tests high-speed maneuverability and requires the SeaPerch ROV to navigate the course as quickly as possible.
The Mission Course incorporates a mission that teams must complete related to underwater environmental monitoring and coral reef restoration.

Lane Setup

The obstacle course and mission courses will be suspended from the pool’s lane dividers with the lower course frames approximately 5-6 feet below the water surface and 5-6 feet from the side of the pool.

The obstacle course and mission course will be arranged beside each other and considered a single competition lane. The pool will include eight (8) competition lanes to accommodate eight (8) teams simultaneously. Competition lanes will be separated by a vacant pool lane (i.e. no course). Each team will have sole use of their assigned competition lane for their allotted time slot.

ROV Power

12-volt direct current (VDC) power connections for the standard SeaPerch power cable alligator clips will be supplied for each competition lane. See 2.3.2. Auxiliary Equipment, Batteries, and Power Supplies for more information.

Timing

Teams will have 20 minutes to complete Pool Course runs. After the course judge verifies the team and provides instructions, a 20-minute course timer will start. Teams will be responsible for managing their time and may take as much time as needed for setup and reset within the twenty minutes allocated. When the course timer expires and reaches zero, the team must depart the Pool Course.

Runs will be timed using a run timer (stopwatch). The run timer will start when each run starts and records the official run times. Teams may start subsequent runs immediately after completing a prior run but must receive a start signal from the judge to ensure the run will be scored. Teams may abort runs at any time without completing the course if they are experiencing problems and want to ensure they have enough time for subsequent runs. A run ends when the run time expires, the team has aborted the run, or the team has completed the course (whichever comes first). Guidelines for obstacle course and mission course runs are below.