University of Sydney robotics researcher and PhD candidate at the Australian Centre for Field Robotics (ACFR), Daniel Wilson has been awarded first place in the 2014 International Simulink Challenge.
Developed using MathWorks’ Simulink software, the winning ‘Skymaster’ is an autopilot for unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) which was designed as part of efforts to meet engineering challenges such as in-flight refuelling and docking.
In a statement, Wilson said he chose UAV autonomous formation flight as a focus area because he sees the drone community gaining momentum on a global scale. “Although many technical and regulatory challenges remain, there’s huge scope for the use of UAV technology in how we communicate, work, and go about our daily lives,” he said. “Unlike large commercial organisations, we’ve been able to take a more cavalier and agile approach to tackle those challenges with our research.”
Entries were received from students around the world for the competition, all of which used the Simulink software.
