It's like a scenario from a techno-thriller: A team of spies flies an unmanned aircraft into an unmapped enemy base to pilfer a flash drive containing plans for the destruction of the banking system.
The aircraft will have to avoid guards, security cameras, pressure sensors on the floor and laser tripwires in the air. And it'll have to be in and out within 10 minutes.
No unmanned aircraft today possesses the capability to do this, but organizers of an international competition hope that some university out there will have developed the technology by, say, next summer when Grand Forks hosts the competition.
Already, eight teams from a far afield as Chennai, India, and as nearby as Rapid City, S.D., have signed on with organizers at the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, which has a chapter in Grand Forks.
At stake is $10,000 in prize money and some bragging rights. If none of the teams can complete the mission, it continues the following summer with another $10,000 tacked on to the pot.
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Bringing the International Aerial Robotics Competition to Grand Forks are several groups with complicated names: AUVSI's local chapter, the Unmanned Applications Institute International, Sen. Byron Dorgan's, D-N.D., Red River Valley Research Corridor and the Grand Forks Region Economic Development Corp. The state commerce department also lent a hand.
Eric Icard, hired by the EDC to develop the unmanned aircraft field in the region, said Grand Forks already is on the map for everybody in the industry, and the competition will add to that.
The area's on the map because Grand Forks Air Force Base is to be the home of Predator and Global Hawk unmanned aircraft. Preparing for that day, there has been a flurry of activities from UND opening an unmanned aircraft center to Northland Community and Technical College opening an unmanned aircraft maintenance center to Northrop Grumman, the maker of the Global Hawk, opening an office in town.
AUVSI competition venue requirement is pretty modest. According to Icard, it just needs a gymnasium to set up the enemy base and accommodations. Location, though, is key, and AUVSI wanted a location that would be easy for teams to get to.
Icard said Grand Forks might not seem that accessible, but it's cheaper to fly to than the last location in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, and is not hard for Canadian teams to reach via Winnipeg.
There have been five missions so far, starting in 1995, with some running over several years. The first mission only required unmanned aircraft to move six discs over a 3-foot barrier to collection point, and they had 60 minutes to do it. That's a far cry from evading guards and stealing flash drives in an unmapped compound.
Reach Tran at (701) 780-1248; (800) 477-6572, ext. 248; or send e-mail to ttran@gfherald.com .
