8th Unmanned Systems Canada Student UAS Competition in 2015-2016.
Scenario
A local farmer would like to evaluate the state of his cereal crops so that he can plan his fertilization strategy. His crops consist of wheat, oats, barley and rye. These crops are scattered over his land because glacial activity during the last ice age deposited arable soil as discontinuous patches throughout the area. Normally the farmer drives out to each crop area to measure nitrogen content in the plants and to evaluate the extent of top soil erosion, however this year he would like to find a more time and cost effective method to gather the data. He has heard of drone technology that gathers photographic evidence of crop condition. He would like to hire an aerial survey consultant to gather this information for him.
Although the local farmer is aware of the research in aerial crop health determination, he is not fully convinced of its accuracy. To be fully convinced of its usefulness, he would like samples for lab testing to establish ground truth. You, as an innovative consultant, have additional technology to offer the farmer. You have recently acquired government calibrated crop probes that can be dropped into areas of interest to send back real-time soil nitrogen and moisture telemetry.
Your mission is to use your UAS to determine the health of the local farmer’s crops. You will be required to identify the crops’ location, type and health and to map them with your airborne sensor system. The farmer accepts the validity of using crop probes to measure soil conditions in specific locations to validate the aerial results obtained via the imaging system.
Your team will be rewarded according to the results contained in the surveillance report that you will submit within one hour of your last flight. Points will be attributed according to the Judging Guide given in Annex C.
Your report will be judged on the following results:
1. accuracy of the crop surface area and their geo-location,
2. accuracy of the crop type,
3. accuracy of the crop health, and
4. accuracy of crop probe placement within the desired crop area.
For the purposes of the challenge, the crop areas and types will be assessable with a regular daylight camera. Crop health will require a camera configuration that is able to detect the light from a 940 nm IR illuminator.
The competition takes place in two phases with the Phase I design report from each team due on January 15th 2016, and the Phase II operational demonstration taking place on April 29th – May 1st 2016 in Southport, Manitoba. Teams will be graded on the quality and completeness of their design reports and the results of their flight demonstrations. There will be separate prizes for each phase.
Purpose of the Competition
The purpose of the competition is to promote and develop Canadian expertise and experience in unmanned systems technologies at the university and college levels. Even small scale unmanned vehicles are complex systems requiring a well planned and executed design approach. In addition, safety considerations are important factors in this competition as in any other vehicle design project.
Eligibility
The competitors must be registered full time in a recognized Canadian university or college. Teams may be organized internally at the discretion of their respective members.
Application and Registration
Interested teams should fill the attached registration form and send it by email to competition@
To complete registration, each team is asked for a registration fee of $200. Payment can be made by cheque addressed to and sent to Unmanned Systems Canada or by credit card. All questions should be addressed to: competition@
Registration Deadline: 23rd October 2015
(Note: Important Competition Information only available after full registration)
Paper Design Submission: January 15th 2016
Flight Demonstration: April 29th – May 1st 2016 in Southport, Manitoba.
