CANBERRA, Australia,
Oct. 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/
-- Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE: NOC) is sponsoring the
2013 and 2014 UAV Challenge – Outback Rescue, a competition in
which students develop unmanned airborne vehicles (UAVs) that
locate and deliver an emergency package to a fictitious lost hiker.
The competition is aimed at encouraging growth in the Australian
civil UAV industry and raising awareness of the potential civilian
applications.
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"This competition is significant because it introduces high
school and university students to UAV technology and shows them how
it can help solve real-world problems," said Ian Irving, Northrop Grumman's chief executive
for Australia. "Given our
company's leadership in the field of unmanned aircraft systems, we
are pleased to be supporting this important initiative, which will
help create the next generation of aerospace professionals."
The UAV Challenge – Outback Rescue includes two flying
categories: the Airborne Delivery Challenge and the
Search and Rescue Challenge. Both competitions give students
a hands-on opportunity to explore their interests, whether in
project management, engineering, mathematics or technology.
This year's Airborne Delivery Challenge took place Sept. 24-25 at Gratton Field in Calvert,
Queensland, with 11 teams of
Australian high school students participating. Each team was given
an emergency package to be delivered to the lost bushwalker, a
mannequin called "Outback Joe." Teams used UAVs they built to carry
and drop the package as close to Outback Joe as possible. The
delivery of the package was controlled by either a human operator
or automatically by the systems on the aircraft. This year's
Airborne Delivery Challenge was won by the Calamvale Raptors II
team from Queensland.
"The competition experience increased the students' interest in
science and technology and encourages them to think about pursuing
careers in the aerospace industry," said Jonathan Roberts, co-chair of the UAV Challenge
Steering Committee and head judge. "UAVs are of growing importance
to Australia given its size. This
technology is critical, whether for search and rescue or monitoring
bush fires or floods."
An optional Search Phase, in which teams used their aircraft to
read symbols left by Outback Joe, was completed for additional
points. Each team submitted a technical report on its UAV and gave
an oral presentation.
The Search and Rescue Challenge will be held Sept. 22-26, 2014, in Kingaroy, Queensland. This competition, open to
university students and amateurs worldwide, also includes
developing a UAV that locates Outback Joe and delivers the
emergency package to him. For this competition, the UAVs must meet
specific size qualifications and teams must put together two
technical reports, along with a flight demonstration video. The
students submit an autonomous flight record that documents that
their UAV has flown autonomously for at least five hours.
The UAV Challenge – Outback Rescue, which began in 2007, is a
joint initiative between the Australian Research Centre for
Aerospace Automation (a Queensland
University of Technology research centre) and CSIRO
(Australia's national science
agency). It is supported by the Queensland Government, Aviation
Development Australia Limited and the Australian Association of
Unmanned Systems. Northrop Grumman's involvement started in
July 2013 when the company sponsored
Dickson College UAV, a team from Dickson
College in Canberra.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing
innovative systems, products and solutions in unmanned systems,
cyber, C4ISR, and logistics and modernization to government and
commercial customers worldwide. Please visit
www.northropgrumman.com for more information.
SOURCE Northrop Grumman Corporation