High tension for Melbourne UAV

Outback Challenge contestants Melbourne UAV have just 47 hours to build, test fly and then film their 2012 competition entry before the D2 decision cut off date.

In February the airframe that they had been working on for two years was lost due to a communications failure. There was not enough time to build a new one.

Ridding to the rescue FPVFlying.com who sponsored and shipped two X8 airframes to Australia for the team to use.

They have arrived and the clock is ticking now.

It will be interesting to see how a very experienced team gets on integrating their AttoPilot IMU autopilot with the X8, we picked it earlier this year as a game changer in the small scene. If  it scores highly at the Outback Challenge it will no doubt begin to sell in even higher numbers than it already is.

Melbourne UAV came very close to being the first ever competition winners in 2009 but it was not to be.

You can follow their progress on Twitter @melbourneuav

The UAV Challenge – Outback Rescue, often referred to as simply the UAV Outback Challenge, began in 2007 and has been held every year since. The event is aimed at promoting the civilian use of unmanned aerial vehicles and the development of low-cost systems that could be used for search and rescue missions.The event is a cooperative effort between the Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation (a partnership between CSIRO and Queensland University of Technology) and the Queensland State Government. From 2007 to 2009 the event was also co-organised with Boeing Defence Australia. There is a thorough scoring system with a clear emphasis on safety, capability and technical excellence.

The event is one of the largest robotics challenges in the world and one of the highest stakes UAV challenges, with $50,000 on offer to the winner of the Search and Rescue segment of the Challenge. The Challenge takes place in Kingaroy, Queensland, Australia at the airport.