Great Lakes Chapter,
Chapter Profile
Detroit, Michigan
Editor’s Note: This is the second in a series of articles focusing on AUVSI’s chapters around the world. Each Chapter Profile will examine chapter membership, activities and goals, as well as the environment around the chapter.
History
The Great Lakes Chapter, which began in 1986, sponsors one of AUVSI’s oldest student competitions, the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC), now entering its 18th year. The chapter currently has a membership of 67.
While the economy of the Detroit area is not good, the heavy use of unmanned systems in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan means that some robotics industries in the area are thriving.
The chapter focuses heavily on robotic ground systems, as the area is the home to the Robotic Systems Joint Project Office (RS JPO), which develops, acquires, fields and sustains ground robotics for the U.S. Army and Marine Corps; the Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC), which develops, integrates and sustains technology for all manned and unmanned DOD ground systems and combat support systems (and is part of the Tank-automotive and Armaments Command); and the Ground Robotics Reliability Center at the University of Michigan, which was formally launched in 2008.
The IGVC has steadily grown larger and more competitive over the years; the next competition, to be held 4-7 June in Rochester, Mich., will include more than 40 teams from around the world.
“I think the center of gravity for robotics in the United States is Southeast Michigan,” says iRobot’s Bruce Legge, the chapter’s vice president. “We’re not doing air; we’re not doing underwater stuff here; we’re focusing on the ground vehicles.”
Activities
“It’s a big deal,” Legge says of the competition. “It has very high visibility within the Department of Defense and in Congress.” The chapter is also sponsoring the 2010 Autonomous Drive, Connected Vehicle and Robotics Workshop on 22-24 June at the Troy, Mich., Marriott. The event will bring researchers from the automotive industry’s Connected Vehicle Initiative together with DOD ground vehicle researchers to look for “cross leverage” technologies. “The goal is to reduce the cost of robotics to the military and increase the competence and penetration
Attendees at a monthly AUVSI-GLC meeting held February 2010 at ABB Robotics in Auburn Hills, Mich.
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Unmanned Systems — May 2010
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