The Institute of Navigation Satellite Division announces the winners of the Sixth Annual ION Autonomous Snowplow Competition during the Saint Paul Winter Carnival
Manassas Virginia, February 17, 2016 –The Institute of Navigation (ION) Satellite Division held its Sixth Annual Autonomous Snowplow Competition January 28-31, 2016 at Rice Park in downtown Saint Paul, Minnesota in conjunction with the 130th Saint Paul Winter Carnival.
Sponsored by The ION Satellite Division and held in cooperation with the ION North Star Section, the ION Annual Autonomous Snowplow Competition is a international 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.
Ten teams participated during the unseasonably warm four day competition, each using state of the art navigation systems such as GNSS, differential GPS, LIDAR, optical navigation systems, inertial instruments, magnetic sensors, and ultra-wide band radio reflectors. Teams were judged based upon their cumulative scores earned throughout the multiple competition phases.
Teams included students, partners from private industry and faculty advisors from Case Western Reserve University; Dunwoody College of Technology; North Dakota State University, University of British Columbia, The University of Michigan, Dearborn, The University of Minnesota, and the University of St. Thomas.
First place was awarded to the University of Michigan, Dearborn’s team “Yeti 6.0.” The first place prize included $7,000 and a Golden Snow Globe Award.
Second place was awarded to Case Western Reserve team “OTTO X.” The second place prize included $4,000 and a Silver Snow Globe Award.
Third place was awarded to the Dunwoody College of Technology’s team. The third place prize included $2,000 and a Bronze Snow Globe Trophy.
In addition, the first place team, University of Michigan, Dearborn’s Team Yeti 6.0 will be invited to display their winning snowplow during ION GNSS+ 2016 conference September 12-16, 2016 in Portland, Oregon.
Sponsors of the Sixth Annual ION Autonomous Snowplow Competition included Lockheed Martin Corporation, ASTER Labs, Inc., Honeywell International Inc., Orbital ATK, Inc., The Toro Company, SICK, Inc. Polaris Industries, Inc., US Bancorp, Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (SpaceX), Deere and Company (John Deere), UTC Aerospace Systems, Proto Labs, Inc., Nuts and Volts Magazine.
The Seventh Annual ION Autonomous Snowplow Competition will be held in January 2017 at the Saint Paul Winter Carnival, St. Paul, Minnesota. For more information, please visit www.autosnowplow.com.
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.