UAV technology offers hope to lost bushwalker Outback Joe

The 2009 event was held at Kingaroy Airport in regional Queensland from 28 September until 1 October. Eleven high school teams and eight open teams – including two international teams from the Netherlands and India – competed in four categories for cash prizes totalling $70,000.

Congratulations to the Brisbane Grammar team, which took home $10,000 in prize money for winning the Robot Airborne Delivery Challenge. The team, led by Year 12 student Ben Paratz, wrote their own piece of history when their UAV flew autonomously and dropped a package to injured bushwalker Outback Joe. It really is an incredible feat that high school students are able to develop technology this advanced.

Aviation High School's Cloud 9 team dropped a chocolate bar right into Outback Joe's lap.

Congratulations also go to Aviation High’s 'Cloud 9' team for winning the Airborne Delivery Challenge and $5,000. This team successfully used a camera onboard its UAV to locate a dummy person on the Kingaroy airstrip, and then directed the UAV to drop a chocolate bar. The team was so successful that organisers did not need to measure the distance between the package’s landing position and Joe – it landed directly in his lap! The Aviation High students in the Cloud 9 team also won the 'closest drop' award, winning them a prize that money can't buy - an hour in a flight simulator - kindly donated by Alteon Training Australia.

In addition to Brisbane Grammar’s history making flight, the Search and Rescue competition for open competitors also achieved new heights, with two teams flying autonomously beyond visual range to the search area. Although no entrants were able to complete the full mission and claim the $50,000 on offer for the Search and Rescue Challenge, both 'Team Galah' from the University of Southern Queensland the 'Melbourne UAV' enthusiast team were awarded the two top encouragement awards for flying closer to Joe than any team previously has in the three year history of the competition.

Thanks to all involved in the 2009 Challenge, including the CSIRO staff who worked tirelessly as organisers, judges, and officials: Jonathan Roberts, Dennis Frousheger, Torsten Merz, Stefan Hrabar, Lennon Corke, and Ross Dungavell.

Read more about the team’s own research in UAVs.

For more information, visit the UAV Challenge – Outback Rescue website.

Photographs by Stefan Hrabar, CSIRO.