2011 [top]
February, 2011
Deep Vision Seeks Consortium Partners For Field Robot 2011
Deep Vision is looking for partner organizations to build a consortium entry for Field Robot Event 2011. Deep Vision sees this as an opportunity to raise awareness of autonomous systems within the community and, especially, the youth of Nova scotia. It's a team-oriented event, that addresses many aspects of robotics including design, electronic engineering, mechanics, and machine perception. It also permits, and encourages, participation and interaction at multiple levels of expertise - from High School to professional.
Core Elements and Benefits:
- Visual and mechanical design of cross-country robot vehicles for plant nursing
- Construction of embedded computer systems for such vehicles
- Development of electronic interfaces for sensors and actuators
- Software development in the field of sensors and actuators (vehicle layer), control and locomotion based on sensor perceptions (navigation layer), machine perception (mission layer)
- Hands-on experience with design and development of mechanics, electronics, and software in a team environment
- Get an insight into what it's like to work in the Robotics and Aerospace & Defence industries
- International travel (Denmark)
- It's lots of fun!!
Consortium Members Sought:
- High School - (one)
- College/University (max. two)
- Industry (max. two)
If you are interested, or simply want to learn more about this initiative, please contact Alan Parslow at Deep Vision Inc.
About Field Robot Event (FRE)
| The vision of Field Robot is to present the future of precision agriculture and horticulture via an annual and international open-air field robot contest. It is the only open-air agricultural field robot contest in the world, where students and professionals compete in a hands-on learning agricultural field domain. The contest allows unlimited creativity in robot design and construction. | |
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The challenge for the competitors is to improve off-road robot building skills, and contribute to the creation of a knowledge base for intelligent navigation, sensing and acting of autonomous and off-road vehicles. Field Robot 2011 will be held in Herning, Denmark from June 30 to July 2, 2011 in connection with the National Agricultural Show in Denmark and the International Conference on Automation and System Technology in Plant Production. The conference deals with:
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About Deep Vision
Deep Vision develops intelligent, real-time, sensor exploitation and machine perception solutions for the Aerospace & Defence industry. Deep Vision provides world class capabilities in autonomous systems, robotics, surveillance, tracking, targeting, and C4ISTAR.
Further Information:
- Field Robot 2010, Holland - Includes a wealth of information, photos, videos, and links to competitor home pages. Also contains considerable information on the 2009 event.
- Creating a field robot during a summer course at the University of Southern Denmark
- Day-by-day account of robot Eduro - Field Robot Event 2009
- Eduro returns - with buddy in 2010 (wins Silver!)
2010 [top]
March, 2010
The NSCC ROV Team Seeks Corporate Sponsorship
NSCC-IT Campus is a leader in the fields of trade and technology. Among the various clubs and associations at NSCC, we have an ROV team as well. ROV stands for Remotely Operated Vehicle and it is our goal this year to build an underwater ROV to compete in the International ROV Competition in June, 2010. This competition is organized by MATE (Marine Advanced Technology Education Center) based out of California, USA and this year's event will take place in Hawaii.
As well as supporting high schools with their ROVs (see below), NSCC has its own ROV Team comprised of first and second year engineering students (Electronic, Electrical and Mechanical). The ROV Team is a direct result of the newly founded Engineering Society here at NSCC. The society provides a place for students of different trades to work together, discuss projects and assignments, and allow students to start networking for the future. Besides designing and building an ROV, the purpose of this team is to unite engineering students of different trades. We realize that in the real world, different trades have to work together to accomplish great things. The ROV team has developed a sense of pride among a small group of students, but we want to make the surrounding community proud as well.
The ROV we built has already been entered in a qualifying round for the competition and we passed with flying colours! The students involved have invested many of hours into the ROV so far and we have no doubt that our ROV will stand up to the competition, but we need your help to fund this journey. The team is looking to the local community for sponsorship and support. Help us get to the competition so we can represent Nova Scotia to the best of our abilities. For further information, please contact Peter Oster at the NSCC or download the Corporate Support document (under Opportunities section).
High School Regional Finals
NSCC's Akerley Campus played host to the exciting Regional ROV competition on March 25 - 26, 2010. The competition tested the ingenuity and creativity of six teams of high school students from Amherst Regional High (Amherst), Auburn Drive High (Cole Harbour), Richmond Academy (Louisdale), Eastern Shore Rural High (Musquodoboit), Dartmouth High (Dartmouth), and Dalbrae Academy (Mabou).
Each team spent months designing and building underwater robots fitted with cameras that can be controlled remotely by an operator at the surface. In this year's competition, teams had to complete a series of missions maneuvering their ROVs through a variety of underwater obstacles, including collecting samples from "caves", detecting "seismic activity" and sampling temperatures from "vent sites". The teams were also required to provide technical reports, create posters and give presentations to the regional judges.
NSCC supports high school ROV teams through CollegePrep, an initiative which actively links high school and College programs to help students find post-secondary paths that leads to successful careers. This year, teams from the Halifax Regional School Board and the Strait Area Regional School Board participated including an Options and Opportunities Program class. "Hands-on learning opportunities allow students to try different things before deciding on post-secondary programs. Competitions like this one give students a chance to make informed decisions on their future based on their own experience, "says Virginia Johnson, Director, Student Pathways, NSCC."
The winners of the 2010 Regional ROV Competition were:
- Gold - Dalbrae Academy
- Silver - Auburn Drive High School
- Bronze - Amherst Regional High School
An article describing the Dalbrae team's build up to the regional finals can be found here in the Inverness Oran. This is the fourth year that Dalbrae Academy will represent Nova Scotia at the MATE (Marine Advanced Technology Education Center) International ROV Competition in Hawaii June 24th to 26th, 2010. Last year, the Dalbrae team competed against 26 international teams and returned home with the 1st place overall title in the Ranger Division. An article describing the Dalbrae team's preparation for the international finals can be found here in the Chronicle Herald. Good luck in Hawaii!
