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Stinky, the underwater robot

Wired has a fascinating story on how four young Mexican immigrants went up against the big engineering teams from MIT and other big names in the Marine Technology ROV championship.

$800 raised from local supporters goes a long way against the >$10.000 received in support by the bigger teams if you have imagination and dedication. The built Stinky from PVC tubes (it go it name after a marathon gluing session) and solved a last minute water leak the in a novel way:

"Excuse me, madam," he began. He wasn't used to approaching women, let alone well-dressed white women. He saw apprehension flash across her face. Maybe she thought he was trying to sell magazines or candy bars, but he steeled himself. He explained that he was building a robot for an underwater contest, and it was leaking. He wanted to soak up the water with tampons but didn't know which ones to buy. "Could you help me buy the most best tampons?"

Way to go Carl Hayden Community High School Falcon Robotics Club; Cristian Arcega, Lorenzo Santillan, Luis Aranda, and Oscar Vazquez!

Support them with the La Vida Robot Scholarship Fund