The Institute of Navigation Satellite Division announces the winners of the Second Annual ION Autonomous Snowplow Competition during the Saint Paul Winter Carnival
Manassas Virginia, February 6, 2012 –The Institute of Navigation (ION) Satellite Division held its second Annual ION Autonomous Snowplow Competition January 26-29, 2012 on W 4th Street at Rice Park downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota in conjunction with the 126th Saint Paul Winter Carnival.
Sponsored by The Institute of Navigation Satellite Division and held in cooperation with the ION North Star Section, the ION Annual Autonomous Snowplow Competition is a national event open to college and university students, as well as the general public, that challenges teams to design, build, and operate a fully autonomous snowplow using state of the art navigation and control technologies to rapidly, accurately and safely clear a designated path of snow.
Six teams participated during the 4-day competition, each using unique vehicle design approaches.
Teams included students, partners from private industry and faculty advisors from Dunwoody College of Technology; Miami University (Ohio); Ohio University; The University of Michigan, Dearborn; and The University of Minnesota.
Teams were judged based upon their cumulative scores earned throughout the competition phases: 75% of the total score was based upon the plowing competition; and 25% of the total score was based upon the presentations and pre-event report.
First place was awarded to Ohio University students Samantha Craig, Ryan Kollar, Kuangmin Li and Pengfei Duan with support from faculty advisors Frank van Graas, Woulter Pelgrum and Maarten Uijt de Haag. The first place prize included $3,000 and a golden snow globe trophy.
Second place was awarded to Miami University students Chad Sobota, Mark Carroll, Robert Cole, Mark Stratis, with support from student advisors Steve Taylor, Ryan Wolfarth and Harrison Bourne and faculty advisors Jade Morton, Peter Jamieson and Janet Burge. The second place prize included $2,000 and a silver snow globe trophy.
Third place was awarded to the University of Michigan (Dearborn) students Angelo Bertani, Zach DeGeorge, Mark Lawrence, Doris Kotori, Alf Williams, with support from student advisors Benjamin Craig, Jhonatan Ferrer, and faculty advisor Narasimhamurthi Natarajan. The third place prize included $1,000 and a bronze snow globe trophy.
In addition, the first place team, Ohio University, will be invited to display their winning snowplow during ION GNSS 2012 Conference September 17-21, 2012 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Sponsors of the second annual ION Autonomous Snowplow Competition included Lockheed Martin Corporation, ASTER Labs, Inc, Honeywell, Inc., Alliant Techsystems Inc., U.S. Bancorp, Hitching Post Motorsports, Space Exploration Technologies Corp., and The Toro Company.
The Third Annual ION Autonomous Snowplow Competition will be held in January 2013 at the Saint Paul Carnival, St. Paul, Minnesota.
Photo caption: The winning team from Ohio University Dr. Frank van Graas, Ryan Kollar, Pengfei Duan, Samantha Craig, Dr. Wouter Pelgrum, Dr. Maarten Uijt de Haag, and Kuangmin Li.
About ION
The Institute of Navigation is the world’s premier professional society dedicated to the advancement of the art and science of positioning, navigation and timing. The Institute is a national organization whose membership spans worldwide. Additional information about the ION can be found at http://www.ion.org.