Look Mom, No Hands!

Students from across the nation participating in a College of Engineering research program cap off the summer by taking the UA’s driverless car for a spin. Ten engineering and computer science undergraduates from throughout the United States and Puerto Rico who worked hard all summer to help advance driverless car technology had a chance to put their work to the test Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2013 as they operated the UA’s Cognitive and Autonomous Test (CAT) vehicle. 

The students answered questions about their summer research experience during presentation and demo intervals. Faculty, administrators, and students participating in other summer research programs across the campus also will attend. The demo ran from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. in UA parking lot #3039 (adjacent to electrical and computer engineering and south of architecture) near Second Street and North Palm Drive. The students, who otherwise may not have had opportunities to participate in a high-profile research project, were selected from among 70 applicants for the 10-week National Science Foundation Research Experience for Undergraduates program.

The program was run by electrical and computer engineering professor Jonathan Sprinkle, who recently won the NSF Career award and whose research in complex autonomous systems has been featured internationally. “They have been learning what it is like to do research in electrical and computer engineering,” said Sprinkle. “This project opened up the world of complex systems, such as autonomous cars, to undergraduate students and gave them insight into societal-scale engineering problems.”

At a glance

UA Cognitive and Autonomous Test (CAT) Vehicle Demo: Students participating in a National Science Foundation summer research program demonstrate their ability to operate an autonomous car.

When: Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2013 from 8:30 a.m. until 10:30 a.m.

Where: UA Lot 3039 (south of Architecture and adjacent to Electrical and Computer Engineering)

Schedule:

• 8:30 - Brief Remarks
  • Dr. Jonathan Sprinkle, Assistant Professor Electrical and COmputer Engineering, and Principal Investigator
  • Dr. Tamal Bose, Professor, Electrical and Computer Engineering Department Head
  • Dr. Jeff Goldberg, Dean, College of Engineering
• 8:35 - Optimal Prime (Nicole Chan, Eric Westman)
• 9:00 - Cat Mobile (Joanna De Los Santos, Tarif Haque, Duc Lam)
• 9:30 - ROS 2 JAUS (Alex Warren, Ethan Rabb, PJ Morley)
• 10:00 - Cooperative Collision Avoidance with Autonomous Vehicle Platoons (Miguel De Jesus, Dylan Watson)
• 10:30 - End of Demonstration

Media Coverage

The demonstration was featured live on FOX-11, and a story also aired on KGUN-9 in Tucson.