2006 Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition

Dates for 2006 IGVC are June 10-12
Competition will be held at Selfridge Air National Guard Base
in Harrison Township, MI
Visit www.igvc.org for more details

On 27 June 2005, TARDEC announced that a team of Virginia Tech engineering students won the $10,000 Grand Award at the 13th Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC). Virginia Tech’s Team Gemini beat out 37 other university-sponsored teams from the U.S., Canada and Japan.

“Unmanned robotic systems play a vital role in supporting our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Dr. Richard McClelland, TARDEC director. “Seeing these young engineering students develop some really innovative unmanned vehicle designs shows that there is a great future for military and commercial industry robotic technologies.”

Team Gemini at the IGVC

The IGVC (13-15 June 2005, Acme, MI) is an international event designed to challenge university students in the burgeoning unmanned vehicle systems field. Students design fully autonomous robots to navigate through an outdoor course scattered with various obstacles. The robots vary in complexity, combining advanced control theory, machine vision, route planning and Global Positioning System (GPS) navigation with high-tech software and advanced engineering and programming skills provided by the university students. TARDEC and Oakland University host the competition, which is sponsored by the Association of Unmanned Vehicle Systems International and companies working in the industry.

TARDEC is advancing state-of-the-art robotic technologies for use by our Joint Forces. In coordination with the Joint Robotics Program and Rapid Equipping Force, TARDEC’s Omni Directional Inspection System (ODIS) has been used in Iraq and Afghanistan to allow Soldiers to inspect vehicles from a safe distance. ODIS performs under-vehicle inspections to detect explosives, contraband, radiological and, in the future, biological and chemical elements. Through a close, collaborative relationship between the technology base, material developer and user, TARDEC is accelerating the transition and delivery of the latest advancements in robotic systems to the battlefield.