Mechanical engineering students to compete in land drone competition
More than 35 mechanical engineering students at the University of Maine will compete in the Mud Season Challenge on April 30 as part of their capstone requirement.
The students were tasked with developing and building a fully autonomous land drone that can traverse unstable, muddy terrain to patrol the border between the U.S. and Canada or other similar areas throughout the world, such as Finland and Russia.
The vehicle is required to be smaller than a snowmobile, use an engine similar to those used to power a chain saw, and be built with low-cost components. Being guided by GPS coordinates, the design must be able to maneuver varied terrain including water, mud, ice and obstacles throughout northern Maine while collecting audio and visual data.
During the challenge, 10 teams of three to four students will compete in a variety of tasks to test the speed and precision of their land drones, including fording a stream, climbing over rocks, navigating via GPS and recording acoustic data greater than 90 decibels.
The competition begins at 8:30 a.m. with a safety review in Crosby Lab on the UMaine campus, followed by a qualifying round at 9 a.m. The challenge will move to the University Forest at 11 a.m.
The contest will be judged by a panel of experts in the agriculture, forestry and automobile industries.
More information about the competition and students, including links to each group’s website, is online.