UND team claims first place and makes history Down Under at UAV competition
A team of students from the UND School of Engineering and Mines (SEM) Unmanned Aircraft Systems Engineering Laboratory made history this week in the land Down Under, and they came away with some cash, as well.
The UND team took first place in the 2010 Australian international UAV Outback Search and Rescue competition in Kingaroy, Queensland, Australia, according to an announcement Wednesday. The victory was made even sweeter by the fact that the UND team became the first in the four-year history of the competition to actually locate the prized target, a life-sized dummy known as “Outback Joe.”
Using its unmanned aircraft and precision equipment, the UND team managed to pinpoint the location of Outback Joe within 15 meters from about 800 feet above ground level. However, in order to win all of the $50,000 in prize money that was up for grabs, the team needed to drop a 1-quart water bottle within 100 meters (about 330 feet) of Joe’s location. The UND team didn’t manage to accomplish this requirement of the competition. No worries, mate, the team was awarded $15,000 for its effort and for the extremely rare feat of actually finding Joe.
The team is advised by Dr. William Semke, UND Mechanical Engineering. The UND team was one of only 11 teams worldwide cleared to compete this year.
The competition Web site is at: http://www.uavoutbackchallenge.com.au/2010/
Team members, in alphabetical order, followed by their home towns, are as follows:
- David Dvorak, St. Cloud, Minn.
- Adam Gabbert, Bismarck
- Danny Hajicek, Fargo
- Kaci Lemler, Buxton, N.D.
- Wyatt Shallbetter, Corcoran, Minn.
- Jesse Sorum, Grand Forks
- Keith Strang, Sauk Rapids, Minn.
— David L. Dodds, writer/editor, University Relations, 777-5529, daviddodds@mail.und.edu.
