Three teams of SeaPerch competitors from Gloucester Public Schools hope to ride a wave to generosity to the 2016 National SeaPerch Challenge this month at Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge.

SeaPerch is a student competition involving underwater robots. The materials to be used are prescribed but students design their own bots. The competition requires students to maneuver their bots through an obstacle course and to show the robot’s agility in an orb challenge. Students are also challenged to create posters describing their design and engineering process.

Gloucester students have done well in the Tidewater regional SeaPerch competition, a qualifier for national event, in recent years but this year their performances were outstanding. Gloucester entered 10 middle and high school teams, and eight of them returned from the regional contest with trophies.

Two Page Middle School teams, the Aquanauts and Freestyle, placed first and second overall, respectively, among middle ...