Newsgroups: comp.robotics
Path: brunix!uunet!europa.eng.gtefsd.com!darwin.sura.net!cc.gatech.edu!cc.gatech.edu!arkin
From: arkin@cc.gatech.edu (Ronald C. Arkin)
Subject: Results of UAV Competition
Message-ID: <1993Jul16.111550.27088@cc.gatech.edu>
Followup-To: comp.robotics
Sender: news@cc.gatech.edu
Reply-To: michelsn@prism.gatech.edu
Organization: College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology
Date: Fri, 16 Jul 1993 11:15:50 GMT
Lines: 141

Posted on behalf of the organizers of the competition. Any questions
please reply directly to them. Thanks.
- Ron
==================================================================


From michelsn@prism.gatech.edu Tue Jul 13 14:13:01 1993
Subject: 1993 Interntl. Aerial Robotics Competition


              1993 INTERNATIONAL AERIAL ROBOTICS COMPETITION
                              === RESULTS ===

   The 1993 International Aerial Robotics Competition was held for the
third year on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta,
Georgia on June 25, 1993.  The event is sponsored by the Association for
Unmanned Vehicle Systems (AUVS) and offers a $10,000 scholarship prize to
the univeristy/industrial team that is able to perform a mission involving
the location, and acquisition of randomly-placed objects (3-inch diameter
spools or "disks"), and the transport of those objects, one at a time, to a
remote location.  The mission must be performed entirely without human
assistance (autonomously) from a flying robotic platform.  Twenty five
university teams met the December 31, 1992 deadline for application.

   The winners were Georgia Tech Team #1 (first place:  $6,000), the U.S.
Naval Academy (second place:  $2,500), and the Univeristy of Texas at
Arlington (third place: $1,500).  What won it for the Georgia Tech Team #1
was a combination of their autonomous retreiver (which worked flawlessly)
and thier fully autonomous flight.  Their vehicle lifted off autonomously,
flew around the arena and found the pick-up ring where it hovered stabily
in the presence of a wind, and then moved to the center of the arena where
it did an autonomous landing.  This showed that the autonomous helicopter
could perceive its environment, maintain stability and position in the
presence of perturbing influences (wind), and could locate the pick-up
ring.

   The disk retriever was flown from a remotely-controlled helicopter which
was positioned over the pick-up ring.  The retriever lowered itself down
from the remotely piloted helicopter where it located and picked up a
single disk.  The ground pilot then positioned the helicopter over the
drop-off ring on the other side of the central barrier where the disk
retriver relinquished its disk successfully into the drop-off ring.  This
was repeated twice.

   The Georgia Tech Team #1 showed that they could autonomously navigate to
any point on the "pick-up" side of the arena and hold position.  They also
demonstrated that they could land and take-off autonomously.  They
demonstrated that their autonomous disk retriever worked if it were to be
positioned over the pick-up and drop-off rings.  Due to the weight of the
on-board electronics, they could not lift their retriver with their
autonomous flying robot, however.  That is why they demonstrated each of
the capabilities separately.  Therefore, no one has yet completed the
entire mission.  Problems that Georgia Tech Team #1 will encounter next
year will be the integration of the two robots (flyer + retriever), both
from a weight standpoint and a stability standpoint (the "sling load" of
the autonomous retriever robot swinging under the autonomous flying robot
as it is reeled up and down from the hovering platform will be a real
challenge).  Another thing as of yet undemonstrated in the Georgia Tech
system is the ability to navigate over greater distances (to the other side
of the arena where the drop-off ring is located).  Currently, the Georgia
Tech autonomous flying robot is operating at the edge of its lift
capability.  This was embodied on the team's T-shirts last year which said
something to the effect, "Have you weighed the machine now that the
software has been downloaded?"

   The other teams which placed did so based on the design and flight
stability of their machines.  The U.S. Naval Academy had two entries, one a
modified helicopter, and the other a "neutral bouyancy" craft which had
vertical thrusters, a weather balloon, and a vectored horizontal fan.  Both
Naval Academy entries relied on a training paradigm for navigation, whereas
the University of Texas and Georgia Tech used sensors for position
awareness at all times.  The University of Texas at Arlington's flying
robot was an improved version of their "tail sitter" design that they have
refined over the past three years.

   Other teams offered solutions to the problem that ranged from helicopter
varients to blimps such as that from the University of British Columbia
Team #2.  One vehicle (Georgia Tech Team #3) which did not fly due to a
component failure the day prior to the competition was four helicopters
slaved together with a composite cross.  During testing, this machine was
reported to have a 50 lb lift capability.  Navigation schemes used ranged
from dead reckoning, to active navigation using visual, infrared, and
acoustic sources.  On a sad note, the Chinese team from the Beijing
University of Aeronautics and Astronautics was denied passports by their
superiors, and was unable to attend the competition in spite of the fact
that they demonstrated partial performance of the mission during tests
earlier this year in China.

   The judges for the event were Dick Wagaman from Mac Donnell Douglas
Aircraft Company, Col. Brad Brown from the UAV Joint Project Office, and
John Gorham, who besides being a distinguished aeronautical engineer, is
the designer of many of the hobbiest helicopters that are currently on the
market.

   Be watching for Discovery on your local TV or cable channel as they will
be airing a segment on this year's event later this summer.

   A one-minute video of the 1993 and 1994 events is available from the
Georgia Tech Media Relations Department (404) 894-2453.  CNN footage from
the 1991 and 1992 events (Technology Week 8/4/91, and Future Watch 55 #2,
6/20/92) can be purchased from CNN Library Tape Sales (404) 827-1500.  The
Scientific American Frontiers Series tape of the 1991 event can be obtained
from the Chedd-Angier Production Company (617) 926-8300.

   The 1994 International Aerial Robotics Competition will be held the
third week of May, 1994 in Atlanta, Georgia.

   Note that the AUVS Ground Robotics competition will be held in Michigan
again next May as well.  Contact for the unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV)
competition should contact: laneg%ccmail@tacom-emh1.army.mil.

   Efforts are underway to establish an unmanned underwater vehicle (UUV)
competition.  Parties interested in the establishment of the UUV effort
should contact one of the following:  cwilliams@minnie.imd.nrc.ca,
smith@transquest.oe.fau.edu, doshi@aic.lockheed.com, or lemi@mbari.org.

   For further information, contact either the Association for Unmanned
Vehicle Systems (AUVS) Washington, D.C. headquarters at (202) 371-1170
(chapter and application information) or for information specific to the
1994 International Aerial Robotics Competition, contact Robert C. Michelson
(President of AUVS, and originator of the International Aerial Robotics
Competitions) at michelsn@prism.gatech.edu.



===================================================================
=  ROBERT C. MICHELSON                    Voice:  (404) 528-7568  =
=  Principal Research Engineer              FAX:  (404) 528-3271  =
=              E-MAIL:	michelsn@prism.gatech.edu                  =
=                 or:  robert.michelson@gtri.gatech.edu           =
=  	       	       	       	       	       	       	       	      =
=   (Georgia Institute of Technology - Atlanta, Georgia  30332)   =
=   Georgia Tech Research Institute,	Aerospace Laboratory, CCRF   =
=           7220 Richardson Road, Smyrna, Georgia  30080          =
===================================================================


Ronald C. Arkin
College of Computing, Georgia Institute of Technology
Atlanta, Georgia 30332-0280
Phone: (404)-894-8209            Fax: (404)-853-9378
