September 25, 2014
Outback Joe has finally been found … 2558 days after he first went “missing” near Kingaroy.
The poor old “bushwalker” has been lost in a peanut paddock since the first Outback Challenge for UAVs was held in 2007.
Organisers of the 2014 Challenge were confident Joe would be successfully found this year because of recent improvements in UAV technology.
And this morning – on the second day of competition – Melbourne brothers Ben and Daniel Dyer from team SFWA successfully completed the mission.
They launched their wing – made of EPO, basically a stronger form of polystyrene – which then began an autonomous search of the area for Joe.
An on-board camera automatically scanned for “light-coloured blobs”.
After locating Joe, the UAV then released a water bottle which landed within 100m of the dummy – although the brothers don’t know how close yet, as the competition is still running.
This is the first time the duo has taken part in the competition, and they admit that UAVs are just a hobby for them.
Daniel is an electronics engineer specialising in embedded systems, while Ben is a software engineer who has his own start-up company.
Their airframe was bought “off the shelf” for about $160 and the camera is basically a security camera. The water bottle was carried by a magnetic release system.
“The electronics are the complicated bit,” Ben said.
“Most of the UAV is off the shelf. The custom-built bit is the autopilot.”
This morning’s winds caused the UAV some issues – with gusts up to 20 knots in flight – particularly when it came to the accuracy of the water bottle drop.
Ben and Daniel are the first team to successfully locate Outback Joe, release the water bottle and return safely, however the brothers haven’t got their hands on any prize money yet.
There are still other teams yet to fly who may score more points, including favourites Canberra UAV.
The UAV Challenge is a joint initiative between the State Government, the Australian Research Centre for Aerospace Automation (ARCAA, a partnership between QUT and CSIRO), Aviation Development Australia Limited and AUVS-Australia. Locally, it has been sponsored by Stanwell Corporation.
NB. Ben said the team name “SFWA” doesn’t actually mean anything “including anything rude”.
UPDATE 1:00pm: Team Robota, from the United States, also completed the UAV Challenge this morning prior to competition being paused because of high winds.
UPDATE September 26: It’s been confirmed that both Canberra UAV and Team Thunder also successfully located Joe – and dropped him off the water – this morning!
Related articles
- Search Begins For Outback Joe
- UAVs Ready For Take-Off!
- Will They Finally Rescue Outback Joe?
- Joe Found (But Not Saved)
- Can Anyone Find Outback Joe?
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