The project sponsor, Tucson Embedded Systems, tasked the team with creating an autonomous robot capable of point-to-point navigation using GPS while avoiding simple obstacles. The team was also asked to develop a command and control graphical user interface for the unmanned ground vehicle.

Embedded Systems wants to develop an unmanned ground vehicle for search and rescue. Unmanned vehicles are increasingly being used for dangerous tasks, and some emergency service providers currently use UGVs for life-saving missions in dangerous environments. The mission of this project was to build a UGV that could be further developed into a life-saving UGV.

Student Engineering Design Showcase

UGV 2010 was just one project among 60 designed by UA engineering students and shown at Engineering Design Day, the UA College of Engineering's premier showcase of student design.

Design Day is organized by the College's Interdisciplinary Design Program, Engineering 498, and co-sponsored by Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems as well as the College.

"Engineering 498 is our dry run for students," said Jeff Goldberg, the College's dean. "We give students the real-life experience of doing a project for an external client. The course is really a simulation of that first project."

Goldberg also noted that Design Day is a great way to give middle and high school students a better picture of what engineering is. "It is by far our best advertisement for what engineers do once they get out of college," Goldberg said.

Goldberg said that Design Day judges have seen similar events at dozens of other universities, and the feedback from them is that UA's event is by far the strongest.

"What makes our Design Day stronger than so many others are our great industry clients, our instructors, and a lot of really good students who enjoy building a prototype and solving the design problems," Goldberg said.

Seniors in the UA College of Engineering competed for more than $10,000 in prize money during the competition, which this year was held in the Student Recreation Center.

Prize Winners

Best Overall Design • $1500
UGV 2010
Design team: Touseef Ahmad, Khalid Al Hmili, Benjamin Baskett, David Irving, Elliot Hart, Ivan Lizarraga, Jose Rodriguez
Project sponsor: Tucson Embedded Systems
Prize sponsors: Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems

Best Overall Design, Runner Up • $1000
Beam, diffuse and global irradiance sensor for solar panels
Design team: Neriyah Carter-Samuel, Ethan Held, Alexander Hickey, Zachary Hillman, David Romero, Shira Wolf
Project sponsor: Biosphere 2
Prize sponsors: Lockheed Martin and BAE Systems

Best Analog Design, First Place • $1500
Team iPulse -- remote pulse oximeter
Design team: Brian Bailey, Brian Ebel, Chris Stemple, Erica Morey, Jack Grantham, Joey Sankman, Scott Galvin, Scott Little, Jessica Falk
Project sponsor: Texas Instruments
Prize sponsor: Texas Instruments

Best Analog Design, Second Place • $500
Situational wireless awareness network
Design team: Austin Scheidemantel, Ibrahim Alnasser, Benjamin Carpenter, Paul Frost, Shivhan Nettles, Chelsie Morales
Project sponsor: Mike Marcellin, Hao Xin
Prize sponsor: Texas Instruments

Best Innovation in Engineering • $1000
Novel detector arrays for ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging
Design team: Eduardo Castaneda, Andrew Dotson, Jennifer Freeman, Leon Garcia, Sergio Pesqueira
Project sponsor: UA Department of Radiology
Prize sponsor: Ventana Medical Systems

Best Engineering Analysis • $750
Apparatus for efficient strengthening of pipes with FRP laminates
Design team: Abdulsalam Alidriss, Hamed Almazrouei, Michael Barry, Thomas Brown, Steven Forbes, Joshua Straton
Project sponsor: QuakeWrap Inc.
Prize sponsor: Raytheon Missile Systems

Best Presentation • $750
Soil coring apparatus
Design team: Saber Al-Alshaikh, Ayayi Ayih, Matt Hamilton, Ygor Machado, Kevin Phu, Jeremy Tysinger
Project sponsor: QuakeWrap Inc.
Prize sponsor: Rincon Research

Best Design Documentation • $750
Upgrade to the Shack cube interferometer
Design team: Asher Sussman, Jeffery Morris, John Mongelli, Chris Shanor, William Casson
Project sponsor: Ruda-Cardinal Inc.
Prize sponsor: Technical Documentation Consultants of Arizona

Best Use of Off-the-Shelf Components • $750
Geolocating target scope
Design team: Mellissa Cordova, Kyle Stelzer, John Bloom, Allison Cicchini, Javier Yanez, Eric Stratton, Nate Cook, Matt Giardina
Project sponsor: Raytheon Missile Systems
Prize sponsor: Edmund Optics

Best Use of Prototyping • $750
Flow-sensing valve with standalone flow shutoff capability
Design team: Mustafa Albahrani, Ed Baker, Zach Dean, Chris Holt, Oscar Pulgarin, Scott Zimmerman
Project sponsor: Rain Bird Corporation
Prize sponsor: Phoenix Analysis and Design Technologies

Fish Out of Water, First Place • $250
Novel detector arrays for ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging
Design team: Leon Garcia (winner), Eduardo Castaneda, Andrew Dotson, Jennifer Freeman, Sergio Pesqueira
Project sponsor: UA Department of Radiology
Prize sponsor: Kristy Pearson

Fish Out of Water, Second Place • $150
BAE lens alignment system
Design team: Josh Gill (winner), Amanda Smith, Tim Budinger, Sterling Jarvis, Ryan Jones, Melissa Stout
Project sponsor: BAE Systems
Prize sponsor: Kristy Pearson

Team Leadership 1 • $250
Infrared-guided infant blood vessel locator and injection device
Design team: Will Fielder (winner), Amanda Eskinazi, Mitchell Gallaher, Kyle Haston, Benjamin Lewis, Linda Myers, Deepa Patel
Project sponsor: Raytheon Missile Systems
Prize sponsor: Honeywell

Team Leadership 2 • $250
Apparatus for efficient strengthening of pipes with FRP laminates
Design team: Thomas Brown (winner), Abdulsalam Alidriss, Hamed Almazrouei, Michael Barry, Steven Forbes, Joshua Straton
Project sponsor: QuakeWrap Inc.
Prize sponsor: Honeywell