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The Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC): A Cutting-Edge Engineering Team Experience Ka C. Cheok, Ernest Hall, David Ahlgren, William Agnew, and Gerald R. Lane Oakland University/University of Cincinnati/Trinity College/Society of Automotive Engineers/U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Research, Development, and Engineering Center

Abstract The Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC) is one of three, unmanned systems, student competitions that were founded by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International in the 1990s. The IGVC challenges engineering student teams to integrate advanced control theory, machine vision, vehicular electronics, and mobile platform fundamentals to design and build an unmanned system for competition against both U.S. and international teams. IGVC teams focus on developing a suite of dual-use technologies to equip ground vehicles of the future with intelligent driving capabilities. Over the past 10 years, the competition has challenged both undergraduates and graduates, including Ph.D. students. To date, teams from 35 universities and colleges have participated. Participants in the 10th annual IGVC held in July, 2002 included Virginia Tech, West Point, Hosei University in Tokyo, Trinity College, Oakland University, the University of Cincinnati, the University of Alberta, and nine other schools. The IGVC is showcased in a design competition sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers. For participating, students earn up to two semesters of senior design credit from some schools. The primary goal of the IGVC is to advance engineering education in intelligent vehicles and related technologies.

The IGVC has four components: a mandatory Design Competition, the Autonomous Challenge, the Navigation Challenge, and the Follow the Leader Competition. The total dollar amount of all four competitions is currently $23,000. In the Design Competition, judges determine winners based on written and oral presentations and on examination of the vehicles, while in the Autonomous Challenge, autonomous robotic vehicles negotiate an outdoor obstacle course approximately 200 meters long. The Navigation Challenge requires vehicles to travel from a starting point to a number of target destinations using global positioning system (GPS) waypoints, and the Follow-the-Leader Competition requires technology that allows vehicles to follow one another autonomously at distances as short as two meters. The rules for these competitions are posted on the IGVC website at http://www.igvc.org/deploy/.

In this paper, we describe some of the applications of the technologies required by this competition, and discuss the educational benefits from multiple college and university perspectives and experiences. The employment and professional networking opportunities created for students and industrial sponsors through a series of technical events over the three-day competition are highlighted. Finally, an assessment of the competition based on participant feedback is presented.

Key words: intelligent robots, autonomous systems, ground vehicles, engineering education.

Proceedings of the 2003 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2003, American Society for Engineering Education

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Agnew, W., & Cheok, K. C., & Lane, J., & Hall, E., & Ahlgren, D. (2003, June), Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (Igvc): A Cutting Edge Paper presented at 2003 Annual Conference, Nashville, Tennessee. 10.18260/1-2--12675