Dr S, Et al.
The rules for the 2011-2012 Search and Rescue Challenge will be out soon and will include deliverables due this year and in 2012 this should keep the momentum of the competition.

Thanking You

Mick

aaawwww i was so keen for this years comp.

Originally Posted by Dr Strangelove

A disappointing result.

My fear would be that the hiatus will kill the momentum for the competition and will see teams drop out.

What is essential (if we are allowing more time to prepare) is that the rules are released in an expediant manner so that teams can make full use of the additional development time.

Given results to date, I would suggest that the committee lock in the current rules ASAP.

Gary, are you planning to compete?

Dr S

It's also an opening for other groups to insert their own UAV competition/s. You snooze, you lose.

@Dr S, no not planning on competing,would like to come an watch one day maybe. I think the Outback is the mutts nuts when it comes to UAS competitions.

Originally Posted by Mick Molloy

No this year will be the QLD State champs and is open to QLD schools only.

AUVS-A will organise the state comps next year and it will depend on the local level of support / interest, more to come on that in the next few months.

Mick

Me and a mate are currently building a UAV (paraglider!) here in Adelaide for the robotic delivery challenge (is this still on in 2012?), we'd be 100% up for a regional SA challenge. So thats two teams :]
Richard, how many people do you have for your team? Which school is your team from? (we're pembroke)
Cheers, Jack Allison

Hi there,

Will the robot delivery challenge continue to be run this year?

Dickson College, in the A.C.T., has a team that will be ready for the robot delivery challenge. We have 35 year 11 and 12 robotics students working towards this goal. As there seemed to be very few teams entering in this challenge last year, is there a reason why teams outside QLD are excluded from the robot delivery challenge?

Thanks,

Andrew
ICT/Robotics Instructor
Dickson College

It would be very disappointing that teams from outside Qld would be excluded from the robot/airborne delivery challenge. My student gained a lot from last years trip and have already started the process for this year. We have also started fundraising with the trip in mind. We also have some other school here in SA interested in making the trip this year.

Originally Posted by Jhackulon

Me and a mate are currently building a UAV (paraglider!) here in Adelaide for the robotic delivery challenge (is this still on in 2012?), we'd be 100% up for a regional SA challenge. So that's two teams :]

we are not quite ready for the robot bit but do own the hardware that could do it.

Originally Posted by Jhackulon

Richard, how many people do you have for your team? Which school is your team from? (we're Pembroke)
Cheers, Jack Allison

We have been competing in a similar competition run through the RAAF/NAMIG for the last 3 years. You need to contact Bernie from NAMIG to see if you can be involved in our challenge - website for contact http://www.concept2creation.com.au .

The reason I asked about who would be organising the state comps is that we have already a group using your rules (started by mal tutty, continued by simon butterworth) running in SA. It is only open to select schools at the moment (riverton and district High School, Valley View Secondary School, Craigmore High School, The Heights and Temple Christen College) but there is room for expansion with expressions of interest from wakerie high school, kapunda high school, Australian school of maths and science and now pembroke.

please let the schools from outside QLD travel this year and this would help promote the state comps for 2012.

thanks
richard

As a Qld high school teacher who deals with students who live and breathe model planes, I feel for the staff and students from down south who would like to be involved in the 2011 Airborne Delivery. Perhaps as this is an 'adjustment year' (for want of a better word), what with the putting back of the S&R, the organisers might consider a special dispensation to allow these young people from other states to compete. Perhaps even some of them will have graduated next year and miss out totally which would be a shame. If there is any way they can be allowed to compete, even in just the AD, then I think all of us will be winners in some way. Can I add finally that the organisers go out of their way to present a brilliant competition and to make young aviators/engineers feel relaxed and part of something grand. That's why we keep coming back.

Thanks for the support anthony

Originally Posted by anthonyATteamMUROC

As a Qld high school teacher who deals with students who live and breathe model planes, I feel for the staff and students from down south who would like to be involved in the 2011 Airborne Delivery. Perhaps as this is an 'adjustment year' (for want of a better word), what with the putting back of the S&R, the organisers might consider a special dispensation to allow these young people from other states to compete. Perhaps even some of them will have graduated next year and miss out totally which would be a shame. If there is any way they can be allowed to compete, even in just the AD, then I think all of us will be winners in some way. Can I add finally that the organisers go out of their way to present a brilliant competition and to make young aviators/engineers feel relaxed and part of something grand. That's why we keep coming back.

I would totally agree. Last year we made the trek from SA not really knowing anything, The judgers were great in allowing use to resubmit material as it was a massive learning curve for us. This has only made the resolve for the students stronger. The high school comp is and needs to be about participation, engagement and excitement. Yes we do need rule and regs to protect the students, organisors etc and for the students to understand developing a system to a standard.

We would love to be apart of it this year. we have already started the fundraisning and developement of the UAVs for the challenge. As part of gainning more knowledge as a teacher I am going to Aviation High later this term to help improving our schools knowledge and understanding of the aviation industry. (anthony where is muroc college?)

With the interest shown by ACT and other SA schools it would be disappionting to not allow them to compete in this transitioning year.

Please can we enter

thanks
richard

It is great to see that there are other schools out there that feel the UAV O.C. is the ideal vehicle to get students engaged into a areospace/engineering profession.

This years robotics program at Dickson College is centred around the UAV Outback Challenge. We have been working on the project from the first day of term. ALL of my 35 students are fully engaged and focused on getting a UAV to the runway for the comp.

The students have divided themselves into project teams concentrating on the various aspects of the UAV development. We have groups dedicated to airplane design and building, autopilot issues, project management, media relations, radio frequency management, software devleopment and more. This structure mirrors a typical project team structure in industry. We have 4 pilots that are half way through their bronze wings certification. Many of these students have already decided that aerospace/engineering is career path for them due their involvement this project.

Industry experts have been visiting the school to provide guidence and encoragement to the students. The profile of the project in Canberra has risen to a level where we are getting phone calls from students from other schools and universities on how they can get involved. Parents have been fully supportive and amazed how enthisastic the students are about this project.

So, as you can imagine, pulling the comp from under the their feet is going to be devistating for the students, the school and community at large. Most of the students involved are year 12 students and will graduate this year. Please allow these students to be involved in the comp this year.

I fully support a regional comp in NSW/ACT next year. As was stated earlier, gaining experience from this years comp will be extremely valuable to setting up a proper comp next year in our region.

Thanks again for putting on the high school challenge. As a teacher, I can see first hand the positive impact it is making to many students around the country.

Best regards,

Andrew Moss
ICT/Robotics Instructor
Dickson College
Canberra

We are in a similar boat but with only 8 students in my year 11 physics class. If we learnt anything from last year we need to be finished the project by end of term 2. so needed to start at the beginning of the year (7 weeks of prep and flying practice so far).

thanks
richard

I can’t agree more. With the pace of amateur autonomous development it will certainly make for a substantial turn out. Limiting change will be important over a two year cycle. There would be an acceptable level, however typically at the start of a project a contract would be signed specifying what will be delivered and deviations generally incur additional costs and/or delays to the schedule, increasingly so as the project progresses. With a competition this is worn by the competitors. Capability can generally be de-scoped as risks eventuate but changing deliverables is very difficult within a fixed timeframe. Stating the obvious but it would be nice if the rules remain stable over the next two years we're bad enough at increasing our own scope.

Hopefully the organisers are open to discussion for the airborne delivery challenge. This competition seems to have become an important part of the curriculum, inspiring and focusing our future scientists and engineers. It would be a shame if any students were unable to see their hard work compete. If they can’t be accommodated at Kingaroy perhaps the amateur UAV community could organise a location elsewhere this year. I wonder what the limiting factor is for allowing teams Australia wide to attend this year’s airborne delivery challenge?

Team uavdev.com

Thanks for the clarification Mick.

It looks like we are on our own for this year. If anyone is interested in helping organise a friendly UAV comp or including us into an existing one, let me know. Our school is very willing to help.

My email is andrew dot moss at ed dot act dot edu dot au .

Best regards,

Andrew

Originally Posted by tinybastian

(anthony where is muroc college?)

thanks
richard

G'day Richard
We are actually called Mueller College. MUROC is our RC plane club named in honour of Chuck Yeager who broke the sound barrier over an area of salt pans called Muroc; now those pans are called Edwards AFB. Mueller itself is on the Redcliffe Peninsula in Queensland - it is named in honour of a chap called George Mueller who ran a stack of orphanages in 19th century England.

Being a Christian school, we tend to pray a lot, especially before spectacularly crashing . We are bayside so it is always cyclonic (well not quite but is sure feels like it) so the kids are good windy weather flyers.

Even though it looks like you guys can't compete this year, I'm sure we'll see you in 2012 whizzing through the skies making us northerners look like turkeys. Till then...

regards
anthony

Anthony

the reason i was asking was that i am in brisbane on the 11th and 12th of april visiting aviation high to forge links around the uav challenge etc. This was organised before the judges decision about 2011. if you were close I would love to visit but sounds as if you are a little way away.

Its a pitty that this years students miss out on an excellent experience as they are unable to compete next year. look forward to see you all in 2012.

thanks
richard