ABOUT THE COMPETITION

The current NJAV vehicle will be improved upon and partially redesigned with the intention of competing in the 16th annual Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC) at Oakland University in Rochester, Michigan on May 30 - June 2 , 2008. The following quote represents a concise, accurate, and straight-forward objective statement, taken directly from IGVC guidelines:

      “The IGVC offers a design experience that is at the very cutting edge of engineering education. It is multidisciplinary, theory-based, hands-on, team implemented, outcome assessed, and based on product realization. It encompasses the very latest technologies impacting industrial development and taps subjects of high interest to students.”                                                                                                  -www.igvc.org

The Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition provides competing teams with an extensive list of guidelines and regulations. Students must work together to develop a comprehensive system that utilizes all sorts of electrical, computer, and mechanical engineering components. After assessment and approval by a team of judges, each vehicle competes in several different categories of competition. The first, known as the Autonomous Challenge, requires the vehicles to maneuver through an obstacle course outfitted with boundary lines, physical obstructions, and traffic violation laws. The second portion of the challenge is the Design Competition. Teams that enter a vehicle are required to prepare a written report and will subsequently be judged on their overall design, the report itself, as well as an oral presentation. Lastly, vehicles must go through a Navigation Challenge. Similar to the obstacle course, this challenge incorporates preset GPS navigation points that the vehicles must successively locate and maneuver towards. As a whole, the IGVC provides student teams an opportunity to take part in an event that puts the fruits of their labor into physical implementation. Furthermore, awards and cash prizes are granted to exemplary vehicles that demonstrate the ability to function quickly, efficiently, and according to the rules and standards set out by the competition officials.

For more information about the competition please visit the offical IGVC website, www.igvc.org.