Search and Rescue Challenge

This category is open to Australian and international university students and aerospace enthusiasts.

The Mission

Outback Joe is lost in the Australian outback and desperately needs assistance. You must develop a UAV that is capable of locating Outback Joe and delivering an emergency package to him.

Where’s Outback Joe?

Your system must be capable of searching an area of at least 2nm x 2nm, up to 5nm from the aerodrome. The target for your search will be a human (or dummy) wearing light khaki clothes and an Akubra hat. The target will not be moving and will be positioned in a typical resting pose in a rural setting.

The GPS coordinates representing the four corners of the search area will be provided in the days leading up to the competition. The air vehicle must not travel outside of the search area or transit lane, for its flight will be terminated if it does so. The search area will be not more that 5nm from the aerodrome.

Over a 60 minute period, teams must deploy their air vehicle systems and conduct the search. Once the search has been conducted a decision must be made as to where Outback Joe is located. A GPS coordinate, representing Outback Joe's location, must be provided to the judges.

Rescue Outback Joe!

Once Joe has been located with the judges approval, the air vehicle must be tasked with delivering its emergency package. The emergency package will contain 500ml of 'life saving' water. The package must be dropped as closely as possible to Outback Joe, without landing on him. The UAV will then return to the Kingaroy airport for recovery.

A total time of one hour is allowed for the mission. This includes all time for set up, launch, mission, landing and recovery.

The minimum requirements for the air vehicle are as follows:

The air vehicle must not weigh more than 100 kg (rotary) or 150kg (fixed wing) in the competition configuration

Points will be awarded based on the time required to complete the mission and the accuracy of the emergency package delivery.

Additional Deliverables

Entrants will be required to submit a technical report which outlines their design, methodology for package deployment and operational and safety procedures. An oral presentation of the technical report information is also required and will be judged along with the other deliverables.

Rules

Before entering, make sure you have read the UAV Challenge - Outback Rescue Competition Rules (PDF, 730kB) for the Search and Rescue Challenge.

The prize

Winners in this category will receive AU$50,000*

Get involved

Do you have the knowledge, skills and expertise to win this challenge? Register your team.

Registration closes Wednesday 7 May 2008.

*Note: If no team successfully completes the mission, prizes will be awarded at the discretion of the event partners.