MSU team Xipiter soars above competitors at UAS competition
September 17, 2014
STARKVILLE, Miss. – A Mississippi State University student team reached the top ten during an international student unmanned air system competition.
MSU’s Team Xipiter surpassed 26 of the 36 registered teams to clinch 10th place overall during the 12th annual Student Unmanned Air System Competition hosted by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) in Patuxent, Maryland.
The MSU team placed sixth in the journal paper subsection and completed the flight auto-navigation, target detection and air drop tasks. Each team that completed these tasks earned prize money.
Team member Alex Hoing said the team was happy to reach the top 10 after facing many challenges throughout the year.
“Our aircraft faced many problems over this year. From molds needing to be reconstructed to radio interference on the new IR video stream, it proved no small feat to make it to competition at all,” Hoing said. “I think it is safe to say we were not disappointed at beating all the adversity, as well as three-fourths of the competition.”
To compete in the AUVSI competition, teams must design, integrate and demonstrate a system able to conduct specific air operations. This includes autonomous flight, course navigation and onboard payload sensor usage.
Hoing, who will serve as team leader for the 2015 competition, says the hands-on, real world experience makes this opportunity beneficial for students.
“This is not just building an aircraft, working with tools or cooperating with people from other majors,” Hoing said. “The best experience is facing problems. It is one thing to face homework problems five-42 in the book, but it is something completely different to need to make a pile of carbon carry 5 pounds of electronics through thin air.”
Preparation for next year’s competition has already started with recruitment of new team members. Hoing said this year will bring a complete redesign of Xipiter’s aircraft and a new team mentality.
“Last year, we went to competition to compete,” Hoing said. “Next year, we’ll go to competition to win.”
Team Xipiter includes 11 engineering students. This year’s team members are (by hometown):
AMORY, Miss. – Joseph Brown, junior in aerospace engineering
BEL AIR, Md. – Charles Spinnato, sophomore in aerospace engineering
BRANDON, Miss. – Rachel McFalls, senior in aerospace engineering
EDMOND, Okla. – Nathan Frank, freshman in computer engineering
FULTON, Miss. – Mark Hunt, junior in aerospace engineering
GRENADA, Miss. – Leeanna Meadows, junior in aerospace engineering
GULFPORT, Miss. – Lucky Duong, junior in computer science, and team lead Bret Fore, senior in aerospace engineering
PENSACOLA, Fla. – Johnie Sublett, sophomore in aerospace engineering
RANDOLPH, Miss. – Alex Hoing, junior in mechanical engineering
WIGGINS, Miss. – Joshua DuPont, junior in aerospace engineering
From its headquarters in Arlington, Virginia, AUVSI works to promote and support its industry through education, advocacy and leadership. It is considered a leader in the unmanned systems and robotics community. The AUVSI Foundation aids student preparation of entering the workforce by providing robotic competitions.
More information on the student unmanned systems competition can be found at www.auvsifoundation.org/suas.
To learn more information about the AUVSI, visit www.auvsi.org.
More information on the BCoE can be found at www.bagley.msstate.edu.
By Amanda Meeler