Team 0x27 won the 2012 SparkFun Electronics Autonomous Vehicle Challenge ground competition held on June 16 in Boulder, Colo. The team includes ASU electrical engineering alumnus, James Cotter, electrical engineering graduate student, Borna Emami, mechanical engineering undergraduate student, Erica Neuperger, and Geoff Clark, an undergraduate engineering student at the Polytechnic campus, along with two high school students from Highland High School in Gilbert, Ariz. All of the ASU students are Highland alums.
Of the 30 teams that entered, only a handful were student teams.
The task is to autonomously navigate one lap around the SparkFun headquarters building in as little time as possible. The cars have no human operation during the run around the 1000-foot obstacle course.
For the first time in the four-year history of the event, two of Team 0x27’s runs had the distinction of being faster than the fastest UAV aircraft that were flying the same course for the air competition.
The team’s official time came in at 2.08 seconds because of a 30-second hoop-time deduction—a bonus for threading the needle during the run. Second and third place came in at 9.46 and 37.16 seconds.
SIMREX, KVH and Hemisphere GPS were team sponsors. Frank Neuperger, general manager, SIMREX Corp. served as the team’s mentor.
Watch the race—and see it from the vehicle’s point-of-view thanks to an on-board camera.
First run:
Second run: