Craft shows well in first competition
By Ronald W. Powell
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
August 7, 2006
It was hard to stay afloat against such
academic heavyweights as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Duke, Cornell and, last year's winner, the University of Florida,
but the robotic submarine from little San Diego City
College remained
watertight yesterday.
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PEGGY PEATTIE / Union-Tribune
Ian Wang (left)
showed his despair as the minutes slide away during his Cornell team's
demonstration time in the final round of the ninth annual International
Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition yesterday. Paul Wade (right in
water) helped with positioning.
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“Its new name is 'Wing and a Prayer,' ” said student Chris
Carter, City College's project leader. “It has a
wing, and we did a lot of praying.”
The community college team didn't win the ninth annual
International Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Competition, but it made a good
showing in its first year as a participant. The four-day event ended
yesterday with the University
of Florida repeating
as champions and winning $7,000, and Duke finishing second and claiming
$5,000.
Academic teams from 20 colleges and universities and one high
school deployed their submersibles in a pool at Point Loma's Space and Naval Warfare Systems
Center and attempted
to complete three underwater tasks. The crew from San Diego City
College was among 11
teams to navigate its 22-pound vessel through a gate.
“According to people here, that is pretty impressive for a
first-time team,” said Carter, 42, whose team did not finish in the top
seven. “Our goal was to get here and see what happens, and getting through
the validation gate was a bonus.”
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PEGGY PEATTIE / Union-Tribune
Carlo Francis
glanced over at the unmanned vehicle he designed for the University of Florida as the rest of the team
studied information on laptops before putting it in the water.
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The competition showcases some of the finest collegiate minds in
electrical and mechanical engineering as well as computer science. The
student volunteers must blend and hone their disciplines over several
months to assemble the self-propelled subs.
Each team acts as a business, raising money from corporate
sponsors and other sources to pay for materials, travel costs to the
competition and room and board. There were teams from Japan, India
and Canada,
some of them raising more than $30,000.
City College, which had
its best run Saturday, scraped together $5,000 from faculty and students.
“Beyond how well the vehicle performs, the competition teaches
students to do things that will prepare them for the business world,” said
Daryl Davidson, executive director of the nonprofit Association for
Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, which sponsors the competition with
the Office of Naval Research.
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PEGGY PEATTIE / Union-Tribune
Contestants
used little red wagons to move their underwater vehicles from place to
place yesterday during final competition in a pool at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems
Center.
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The 34-year-old association represents the unmanned systems
industry and promotes the industry's advancement. Based in Virginia, it is
funded by defense corporations and individuals and has 5,000 members
worldwide.
Davidson said robotics is one of the fastest-growing sectors for
defense contractors, several of whom sponsor teams.
“Anything that's dull, dirty and dangerous is a fine candidate for
robotics technology – anything where you don't want to put humans in harm's
way,” said Kenneth Milligan, vice president of Albuquerque-based defense
firm Applied Research Associates.
The military uses unmanned subs to search for mines or to map the
ocean floor for hazards. Oil and gas companies use them to survey
underwater pipelines for leaks or damage.
Like those used for warfare or profit, the subs in the competition
are equipped with onboard computers and sensors for guidance and
operations.
The
competition is also an audition for the job world.
James Buescher, 25, a Cornell graduate,
got a job with the Navy's SPAWAR program in San Diego two years
ago. He credits his job with contacts he made over five years of submarine
competition.
“The value of working in a multidisciplinary environment as a
student is invaluable,” said Buescher, a
mechanical engineer.
University of
Florida
graduate student Jim Greco agrees.
Greco, 23, was project leader last year of the university's
winning sub, dubbed “SubjuGator,” a takeoff on the school's mascot. Greco
is completing his master's degree program in electrical engineering and has
a job lined up with defense contractors in Washington, D.C.
“The competition is a good way to display your engineering talent,”
Greco said. “Most of my interview was on the submarine and my contribution
to it. It's something (defense) employers can relate to.”
 Ronald W. Powell: (619)
718-5070; ron.powell@uniontrib.com
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