Micro Air Vehicles fill skies over Eglin range

  • Published
  • By Rex Swenson
  • AFRL Munitions Directorate
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Micro Air Vehicles, or MAVs, took to the skies over Eglin ranges during the second annual U.S.-European Competition and workshop, known as MAV-06, held Oct. 30-Nov. 2.

The event was hosted jointly by the Emerald Coast Chapter of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International and the Air Force Research Laboratory.
According to Dr. Bob Sierakowski, AFRL's Chief Scientist, "MAV-06 not only pitted eight different teams from 15 countries in friendly competition, but was also a highly informative conference featuring noted guest speakers, such as, Dr. Mark Lewis, the Chief Scientist of the Air Force."

The challenge at Range C-72 put competitors on a scouting mission in a large open field. They were required to observe many potential targets in the field and launch a surveillance mission as quickly as possible.

"Competitors were given target coordinates for specific targets that must be observed. But, they have only five minutes from the time they are given the information to launch their MAV on its surveillance mission, explained Dr. Sierakowski.

Going over the details, Dr. Gregg Abate, one of the MAV-06 coordinators said, "The teams are required to fly their micro air vehicles by remote control or pre-set GPS coordinates to three separate locations within a one-kilometer radius and report on what they observe at each location while not being detected."

The MAVs could be no longer than 17 inches and weigh about a pound to meet specifications but had to carry cameras and other electronics.

"What they are looking for at each target," explained Dr. Abate, "is a large placard with an alphanumeric character on it. The MAV's on-board cameras will have to be able to identify the character on the placard."

Then following the observations at each of the three target locations, the MAVs were required to deploy a 'payload' (a standard paintball) at a prescribed location.

The MAVs had to be able to make these observations of all three sites, deploy their payload, and return to base all in less than 20 minutes.