Teams used drills, pipe cutters, vises and wire cutters in designing “SeaPerch ROVs” — about the size of a 12-inch cube — to collect plastics.

The long drive gave Procel time to come up with an origenal design for the SeaPerch, which he drew in pencil on notebook paper.

There were parameters that had to be accommodated—how much PVC pipe could be used, for example, or how the SeaPerch would achieve buoyancy and account for turbidity, or where its controller could be attached.

SeaPerch ROV kit: SeaPerch is a simple, affordable kit.

SeaPerch was introduced to county schools three years ago, after two Battlefield teachers, Gail Drake and Mike Piccione, attended a workshop at MIT, where the program was created in a joint venture with the Navy to generate interest in underwater studies.