Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition
Encyclopedia
The Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC) is an annual international robotics competition for teams of undergraduate and graduate students. Teams design and build an autonomous ground vehicle capable of completing several difficult challenges. The competition is well suited to senior design “capstone” courses as well as extracurricular design projects.
The competition has taken place each year since 1993. The competition is normally held on the campus of Oakland University
in Rochester, Michigan
, although it has occasionally moved to other venues within the state of Michigan. Approximately 40 teams typically participate.
The competition is often sponsored by the United States Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center
(TARDEC) and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) in addition to other sponsors.
The competition has taken place each year since 1993. The competition is normally held on the campus of Oakland University
Oakland University
Oakland University is a public university co-founded by Matilda Dodge Wilson and John A. Hannah whose campus is located in central Oakland County, Michigan, United States in the cities of Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills. It is the only major research university in Oakland County, from which OU...
in Rochester, Michigan
Rochester, Michigan
Rochester is an affluent city in north Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan on the northern outskirts of metro Detroit. The population was 12,711 at the 2010 census...
, although it has occasionally moved to other venues within the state of Michigan. Approximately 40 teams typically participate.
Competition Overview
The details of the competition change from year to year. In 2010 the competition included the following four events.- Design Competition: The design competition includes a written design report, an oral presentation, and an examination of the vehicle.
- Autonomous Challenge: The autonomous challenge is the major event. Qualification for this event is required. A fully autonomous ground vehicle must navigate an outdoor obstacle course. The course consists of a lane painted with white or yellow lines on a grassy field. Obstacles come in a wide variety of shapes and colors including barrels, cones, saw horses, and posts. The vehicles often use a camera to detect the boundary lines and a laser rangefinder to detect obstacles, although a variety of other approaches have been used.
- Navigation Challenge: This event requires the vehicle to travel autonomously from a specified starting point to a sequence of destinations specified by latitude and longitude. Qualification for this event is also required. Various obstacles are placed around the course including a fence with a randomly relocated opening.
- JAUS Challenge: The JAUS challenge is optional. This challenge requires a vehicle to demonstrate compatibility with the JAUSJAUSJoint Architecture for Unmanned Systems , formerly known as Joint Architecture for Unmanned Ground Systems , was originally an initiative by the United States Department of Defense to develop an open architecture for the domain of unmanned systems.In order to ensure that the architecture is...
(Joint Architecture for Unmanned Systems) standard by receiving and responding to a specified list of JAUS commands from the judges.
The competition is often sponsored by the United States Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center
United States Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center
The United States Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center , located in Warren, Michigan, is the US Armed Forces' research and development facility for advanced technology in ground systems. It is part of the Research, Development and Engineering Command , a major...
(TARDEC) and the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International (AUVSI) in addition to other sponsors.