A team from Southern Polytechnic State University has finished in third place in an International Aerial Robotics Competition. The event was held June 27-30 at the U.S. Department of Energy's Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response facility adjacent to the Hanford Nuclear Site in Richland, Washington.

Ten teams from around the world competed in the event, with the goal being to advance the state of the art of robotics. During the competition, teams flew robotic, computer-controlled helicopters, an airplane and other aerial-type machines over a simulated disaster area. The vehicles used technology to search for hazardous materials and simulated live and dead victims, while avoiding obstacles such as overturned rail tank cars; broken water mains; smoke/fog generators; flames; and gas tanks.

The team from Technische Universitaet Berlin won the event when their helicopter-based entry autonomously flew and navigated a simulated disaster scene. The second-place team was from Simon-Fraser University in Canada. SPSU, in third place, was the highest-ranked U.S. team.

"The goal every year is to fly autonomously, and one institution was able to do," said Professor John Sweigart, advisor to the SPSU team. "To do that several major technologies have to be present, and we are getting closer and closer to those elements."

Last year, SPSU's team finished fourth in the competition. The team includes Walter Len Burleson, Andrew Chong, James Hudak, Alex Rodriguez, Kris Keller, Landon Smith, Marcel Pitzini, Patrick Warden and Sweigart, who has taught in Southern Polytechnic's Mechanical Engineering Technology department the last eight years. "These students are very talented in their various technical areas, but what is really outstanding is their ability to communicate across specialties," said Sweigart.

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.

Southern Polytechnic's aerial robotics team is featured on an upcoming segment of PBS' "Scientific American Frontiers."

Southern Polytechnic State University is a residential university with approximately 4,000 students pursuing bachelor's and master's degrees in many of the nation's fastest-growing fields related to engineering and technology. One mile west of I-75's Exit 263, the university is just 20 minutes northwest of downtown Atlanta, GA.