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Imagine what you could do if you had your very own automatic flying machine that would do whatever you asked of it. It doesn't get tired, it can fly for weeks on end and it can be your "eye in the sky" or deliver things for you - whenever you wanted it to. The impact of such a machine on modern society would be pretty significant. Imagine all of the new things you could do...use it to look for sharks out at sea while surfing (and beam it to a TV screen in your surfboard), check the freeway traffic before leaving work and maybe even deliver the mail in rural areas.
These robot aircraft are not a dream, they are a quickly emerging technology that is revolutionising the way we live in our modern, information-rich, society. More importantly, their potential to provide safe low-cost airborne delivery or surveillance will have a large impact on large expansive countries such as Australia.
UAV is short for Unmanned Airborne Vehicle. These are flying machines which can perform activities without actually needing human pilots. They rely on modern computers and sensors (such as the Global Positioning System) to figure out where they need to go in order to perform the tasks that the human operator has asked them to do.
UAV's are already in use in large number by the Defence forces around the world - since they have no pilots, there are no lives to risk in combat situations; however they also have many practical civilian uses which this competition focuses on.
The UAV Challenge - Outback Rescue has been developed to promote UAV's significance to Australia. The UAV Challenge is a joint initiative between the Queensland Government and the Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation (ARCAA, a partnership between QUT and CSIRO) - a prime example of government, industry and research organisations working together.
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