A team from Southern Polytechnic State University has finished in second place in an International Aerial Robotics Competition. The event was held July 21-22 at Webster Field in Maryland.

Teams from the U.S. and Canada competed in the event, with the goal being to advance the state of the art of robotics. During the competition, teams attempt to fly robotic, computer-controlled aircraft.

The competition is sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems and is designed to encourage groups of students to advance the technologies required for useful autonomous air vehicles.

The SPSU team finished second overall and also received a special award for Best Design Innovation. " I am very proud of our students," said Professor John Sweigart, advisor to the team. "They are all very talented and dedicated."

According to Sweigart, the two main challenges in creating a useful robotic aircraft are autonomous flight and computer image recognition. "Computer image recognition has long been one of this team's strengths, but we are now on the cusp of mastering autonomous flight as well," said Sweigart, who has taught at Southern Polytechnic State University for nine years. "Autonomous flight has only been achieved twice in the last four competitions."

This year's team included Andrew Chong, James Hudak, Patrick Warden, Flash Corliss, Mike Longino and Griffin Harrison. Last year, SPSU's aerial robotics team finished third in the event.

"I think we are in great shape for next year's competition," said Sweigart.

A team from Georgia Tech won the overall competition.