Students Place 5th in 2009 Robotic Submarine Competition
Dubbed the Dark Horse Team last year after galloping from 14th place the year before to finish second in 2008, the Jonsson School’s Autonomous Underwater Vehicle Team struggled with a balky sonar system at this year’s international competition but still managed to finish fifth in a field of 30.
“The team really had their eyes on the gold this year, and they made a heroic effort to overcome adversity in the stretch, showing a lot of character in the process,” said Ed Esposito, assistant dean for industrial relations and the team’s faculty sponsor. “To me, they epitomized the spirit of Fearless Engineering. One thing’s for sure: They’ll be back next year and will be a team to be reckoned with again.”
Despite lingering problems with the submarine’s new digital sonar system during the early rounds, the UT Dallas team earned a No. 4 seed for the finals behind past champions Cornell and Maryland and an upstart University of Victoria team. In the end Cornell claimed the gold with a near-perfect final run, outscoring all others by a wide margin at the San Diego competition.
During the stress-filled final three days of the competition, team members logged an average of just two to three hours sleep per night, and their fifth-place finish ensures them a place again next year in “varsity row,” the seven tents nearest the front of the facility.
Members of this year’s student team were Rocky Gentry, Kyle Graves, Chase Johnson, Michael Plante, Nathan Reid and Carl Spurgers. Their faculty mentor again this year was Chris Thomas of Raytheon Co.
Video highlights of the competition can be seen at http://www.auvsi.org/competitions/videos.cfm. These include an 18-minute video devoted exclusively to the Dark Horse Team and its final run.
The autonomous underwater vehicle competition is organized each year by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, a nonprofit organization devoted to fostering, developing and promoting unmanned systems and related technologies. The competition is co-sponsored and officiated by the U.S. Office of Naval Research.
Team members (from left) Rocky Gentry, Nathan Reid, Chase Johnson, Michael Plante,
Carl Spurgers and Kyle Graves, plus faculty mentor Chris Thomas.
The Jonsson School’s autonomous underwater vehicle is
lowered into the water in the final round of competition.
