By Larry Coonrod, Lebanon Express writer | Posted: Wednesday, June 6, 2007 12:00 am
It navigates roads unmanned and avoids cliffs and obstacles using laser sensors and three global positioning system receivers. It's in the running for a $2 million dollar prize from the Department of Defense and, last Thursday, Oregon State University Mechanical Engineering department's DARPA car was the star of Engineering Technology Day at Lebanon High School.
The brain child of LHS Physical Systems Academy principal Ken Ray and OSU mechanical engineering instructor Steve Adams, Engineering Technology Day gives students an opportunity to see advanced technology projects and explore the engineering field by talking to OSU engineering students. This is the second year for the educational event.
Adams taught metal and machining at LHS for 15 years before taking a position at OSU in 1993. He sits on the advisory committee for the LHS Physical Systems Academy.
“There just aren't enough engineers and we're trying to get students excited about engineering," Adams said. The demand for engineers is so great that even average graduates can start out making $50,000-$52,000 a year, he said.
Oregon State University mechanical and civil engineering students answered questions about the projects they built and the OSU's engineering projects.
Doctorate student Mark Knudson and his undergraduate assistant Daniel Heinein spent the afternoon answering questions on how the DARPA car's different systems work together to control the former Baja car over long distances. The vehicle was selected 43rd out 195 entries in 2005 by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency to compete in a project to design a vehicle capable of traversing long distances without aid of human control.
The DARPA car is a project that involved dozens of OSU students working on the individual sub-systems and then integrating them. More than $150,000 has been invested in the vehicle, making it, Knudson said, “the world's most expensive remote control car."
“It can reduce the risk to soldiers from improvised explosive devices and aid in search and rescue efforts," Knudson said. “Even without winning the $2 million, the hope is that viable technology that OSU can sell will come out of it."
Other engineering displays included Baja and formula car racers that have competed in races sponsored by the Society of Automotive Engineers, buoys that generate electricity from ocean waves, a 20-foot canoe made of lightweight concrete, and robots.
Physical Systems student Chris Nofziger, 17, thought the displays were “pretty cool." Nofziger said he is thinking about majoring in engineering and the event gave him the chance to find out what being an OSU engineering student is like.
“It's a great way to capture students' imagination about engineering. They can see students not much older than themselves doing these projects," said Belinda Batten, head of the Mechanical Engineering department at OSU.