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Embry-Riddle Robots to Compete in Air and on Land in AUVSI Contests
Daytona Beach, FL, and Prescott, AZ, June 7, 2012
Molle will compete in the IGVC.
Beginning June 8, Embry-Riddle student engineers from the Daytona Beach and Prescott campuses will deploy their robotic creations in a series of competitions that challenge college students to design, build and demonstrate the next generation of unmanned systems. The events are sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI), a group representing government agencies, companies and schools and committed to fostering, developing, and promoting unmanned systems and robotic technologies.
The first contest is the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC) from June 8-11 at Oakland University in Rochester, Mich. For the contest, college student teams develop autonomous ground vehicles that must navigate a complicated obstacle course, complete with an extensive list of mobility and design requirements. The event gives students an inside view of design challenges and connects them with potential mentors and future employers.
Students from the Daytona Beach campus are competing in IGVC with two robots, dubbed Reagle V and Molle. The students are advised by Charles Reinholtz, professor of mechanical engineering, and Patrick Currier and Eric Coyle, both assistant professors of mechanical engineering.
A second AUVSI event, the Student Unmanned Air Systems competition (SUAS), from June 13-17 at Webster Field, Patuxent, Md., will see the talents of student engineers from Embry-Riddle’s campuses in Daytona Beach and Prescott. The contest challenges students to design and demonstrate an aircraft capable of autonomous flight, navigation of a specified course and use of onboard payload sensors.
Students from the Prescott campus will compete in the SUAS event with an unmanned aircraft of their design, dubbed Goose II. They are advised by Ray Bedard, associate professor of aeronautical science. Three of the team’s members had prior experience directing military drones before becoming students at Embry-Riddle.
Two student teams from the Daytona Beach will also be at the SUAS event. One team will fly AnDrone, an unmanned aircraft that uses an Android cell phone camera to take photographs. The team is advised by Reinholtz. A second team has entered its own unmanned aircraft, dubbed Agent Grey. They are advised by Richard Stansbury, associate professor of electrical and computer engineering.
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world's largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, is a nonprofit, independent institution offering more than 40 baccalaureate, master's and Ph.D. degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business and Engineering. Embry-Riddle educates students at residential campuses in Daytona Beach, Fla., and Prescott, Ariz., and through the Worldwide Campus with more than 150 locations in the United States, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. The university is a major research center, seeking solutions to real-world problems in partnership with the aerospace industry, other universities and government agencies. For more information, visit http://www.embryriddle.edu, follow us on Twitter (@EmbryRiddle) and facebook.com/EmbryRiddleUniversity, and find expert videos at YouTube.com/EmbryRiddleUniv.
