Something bustled with the crabs atop the kelpy, weedy terrain of Cornet Bay on Friday — robots, teams of them, scouring for plankton.

Possible through a Whidbey Community Foundation Grant and a collaboration effort between Atlantis S.T.E.A.M., a youth science club, and the North Whidbey Pool Parks and Recreation District, Atlantis S.T.E.A.M. expanded from its Clinton base to offer an underwater robotics course to underserved students on North Whidbey.

The first thing the students learn is safety, said Ash Bystrom, club president. Right after that, they solder a switch. A switch leads to a motor.

“It doesn’t matter how good you can code since nothing is plug and play,” she said. “You have to conquer physics first.”

The students tested their bots at the John Vanderzicht Memorial Pool before taking them to the sea. In the saltwater, robots recorded the temperature at different depths, towed plankton and collected litter.

Atlantis students brought plankton samples from their robots to a microscope on a park bench at Cornet Bay State Park, where Kelly Zupich, Island County marine resources committee coordinator, helped differentiate between zooplankton and phytoplankton, identified each of the squiggly lines and curly Q’s, determined toxicity and noted microplastics.

The robots retrieved more than plankton and trash.

When one Atlantis student, Pippa Place, dropped her glasses in the ocean, a BlueSkiesDroneRental volunteer operator scrubbed the sand with a commercial remote operated vehicle, his own underwater robot, to no avail. That’s when 13-year-old Maya Overn, another student, asked if she could try. In a few minutes with Overn at the helm, the BlueSkies bot located the glasses and returned them to their rightful owner.

The course keeps students engaged and aware of local environmental issues and how creativity and collaboration can address them, said Stephanie Andrews, a volunteer.

Everybody involved is a volunteer, Bystrom said, including Valerie Gerdes of the Oak Harbor High School Wildcats Robotics Club and Clinton’s Les Schwab, which loaned batteries.

The impetus of the organization is to help families in need, she said. On the South End, the lack of single-family starter homes means few families with young children who don’t have the same extracurriculars as other communities.

“Not only is that North Whidbey pool critical to the health and mental health model and the physical health of Oak Harbor proper, but truly it reaches even broader, and its importance is even broader,” Bystrom said.

Atlantis students have shown tons of promise, she said. In May of 2022, four boys learned how to make a switch and a simple, forward-backward motor. The following May, they competed in the world championship.

For Caleb Arndt, one of Atlantis’s “varsity team” members, competing is his favorite part of the program. The team works on a robot for six months straight. The championship takes a lot of hard work and can be stressful but is ultimately worth it, he said.

Students raise their own funds walking door to door on top of the hours spent every week building motors, Bystrom said.

“Any kid who has that amount of passion and drive to do this type of work deserves the chance,” she said, “and it should not be defined by the financial capabilities of your family.”

Elliot Andrews, who also competed in the world championship, is a homeschool student, he said, so Atlantis provides an outlet to meet people and do things he wouldn’t otherwise be able to.

Even at public schools on South Whidbey, Science, Technology, Engineering and Math programs are limited, Arndt said, and there is no robotics club.

Atlantis S.T.E.A.M. is always looking for volunteers, especially those with backgrounds in coding or other technology, Bystrom said, as well as funding.

“With the problems that these kids are going to be facing in their life, having kids who are given these opportunities and understand how the science works, how to create things that will make a difference in what they’re able to impact their world in the future is really critical,” she said.

Pippa Place observes plankton she collected with a robot she built in the Atlantis STEAM robotics course. (Photo by Sam Fletcher)

Bently Ashton-Beckley, an Atlantis STEAM student, and Kelly Zupich, Island County marine resources committee coordinator, identify plankton sampled via robot at Cornet Bay on Friday. (Photo by Sam Fletcher)

Maya Overn (left) and Pippa Place command an underwater robot at Cornet Bay on Friday. (Photo by Sam Fletcher)