Arizona Republic
CARL HAYDEN
The Carl Hayden Robotics Team is one of a group of schools, businesses and
organizations attempting to bring an underwater robotics competition to Arizona
in June. The Falcons have garnered national attention from their participation
at a Remote Underwater Vehicle contest the past few years, beating the likes of
MIT. Hayden is joining forces with Chandler High School, which would host the
competition at its pool. Chandler's Robotics team joined Carl Hayden in Houston
for last year's ROV championships. Arizona State University Women in Applied
Science and Engineering, Si Se Puede Foundation, Chandler, !nventivity, SEAD
Architecture, BBB Hobby and a host of other community organizations are behind
this effort.
The contest would consist of as many as 24 teams, from junior high, high school
and colleges and universities. Co-organizer and Hayden coach
Allan Cameron believes the timing is
right.
"The ROV competition we have attended is in Newfoundland, Canada, this year, and
it will be difficult for teams to get there. There are a lot of West Coast teams
that can come here. A unique feature of this event will be that the underwater
competition will be held all night long, to beat the Arizona heat," Cameron
said.
According to Fredi Lajvardi,
Hayden coach and chief technology officer for Arizona Promoters of Applied
Science in Education, "The competition will consist of a salvage mission of a WW
II sunken German submarine. This is one mission open to all categories of
entrants, from elementary to corporate level. Competitors will be evaluated in
several aspects, not only completion of the mission but also delivery of a
written technical report and oral presentation among other elements to be
evaluated."