🚀 go-pugleaf

For those of you interested in something a little more ambitious than the 
micro mouse, I just received information on the first international aerial 
robotics competition, to be held next July at AUVS91 in Atlanta. First 
prize is a $10K cash tuition award.

The general idea of the competition is as follows: unmanned, autonomous 
air vehicle, must fit inside a 6' side diminsion cube. Computation need 
not be on-board: wireless data links are permitted (but no tele-operation, 
obviously). Course is an olymic sized tennis court. On each side of the 3' 
high net is a 6' diameter ring. In the middle of each ring is a xenon 
strobe light, one flashing at 30Hz, the other at 7.5Hz. In the first ring 
are 6 randomly placed disks. The disks each weigh 4 oz, are ferromagnetic, 
and are painted dayglow orange. The idea is to move the disks, one at a 
time, from the one ring to the other, without touching the ground (I 
believe that landing in one of the rings is permitted). The vehicle that 
transfers the most rings in 3 minutes (or in case of a tie, does it in the 
least amount of time) wins. Simple, huh?

Each team may be either student or student/industrial.

This is a really interesting competition. I can think of many possible 
solutions, involving helicopters, planes, and blimps... Should be fun, but 
not much time left.

Anyway, if you're interested, you must submit an intention to compete by 
December 31. For complete rules and an entry form, write to:

AUVS Atlanta
c/o Georgia Tech Research Institute
Aerospace Science and Technology Lab
Atlanta, GA, 30332   USA
Attn: Robert C. Michelson