Canadian Team ‘VAMUdeS’ Achieves Third Place Internationally At AUVSI Student Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Competition 2011
OTTAWA (ON), June 30th 2011 – Sponsored by leading Unmanned Systems’ service provider ING Engineering, the Canadian University of Sherbrooke team of 6 students secured a third overall position in the 9th SUAV (Small Unmanned Aerial Vehicle) systems competition conducted by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). The competition ran from June 15th-18th at the Webster Field in Patuxent River, Maryland.
The team has previously been declared the overall winner at the latest UAV Competition organized by the Unmanned Systems Canada. It further defeated over 25 teams internationally at the AUVSI Finals, coming third to the Utah State University (first) and the North Carolina University (second). Says Sebastien L. Godbout, Team Captain, VAMUdeS, “Despite few GPS problems, we managed to perform a fully successful autonomous routine i.e. takeoff, missions, and landing. Our team reacted very well when the problem arisen and throughout the mission, this was a key reason for our third place.” Notably, this win marks the highest ranking that any Canadian team has ever achieved at the AUVSI event.
The AUVSI SUAV is aimed at generating interest and innovation in the UAV technology by means of a competition where the students try to model, fabricate and demonstrate an independent system that can undertake and complete a specific aerial operation. This annual event is sponsored by several leading organizations including IBM and Boeing, and is judged by a reputed panel of AUVSI members consisting of ex-Navy, UAS operators, and NAVAIR personnel.
The victory comes at a time when ING Engineering is expanding its operations in delivering cutting-edge, customized solutions for unmanned systems in Canada and worldwide, with the addition of two new UAVs- the Scout and the Serenity.
