The competition was held on July 21 and was sponsored by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI). The U.S. Army McKenna Military Operations in Urban Terrain site played host for 13 collegiate teams from the United States and Canada. This was the first year a team from Cal State Northridge competed in the event.

“It is a great experience to be out there, working with other teams, learning from them, and building friendships with them,” said Xiaojun (Ashley) Geng, assistant professor in CSUN’s Electrical and Computer Engineering Department.

The goal for the teams was to reach a “Level 1” status. To reach that status, teams had one hour to build an aircraft that could fly a distance of three kilometers and reach four designated points on the 430- acre urban-like course without the help of a human operator.

Though the five-person CSUN team had struggles reaching waypoints on the course, they were one of only five teams whose aircraft showed the elusive autonomous flight, a rare feat for a first-time team.

Geng said improvements in purchasing wireless communication parts, more fundraising, and preparing earlier will help the CSUN team in later competitions.

The CSUN team also competed in paper design, t-shirt, system design, and overall presentation events.

For more information on the event, visit http://avdil.gtri.gatech.edu/AUVS/IARCLaunchPoint.html.