Engineers showcase inventions of the future

Edward O'Daly

22 August 2006: A robot vehicle that will go where men fear to tread, a machine to bring all your remotes under control and a device to revolutionise communication on the high seas all won prizes at last week's Fourth Year Engineering Project Poster Session.

Held in building 11, the event gave final year students the chance to show off their projects to judges who included representatives of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.

The autonomous vehicle developed by (from left) Mr Shepard, Mr Cottrill and Mr Swan won the IEEE 1st prize Photo: Michelle Khoo

Lecturer Bala Balachandran said the event was valuable experience for the students and described the projects on show as the "inventions of the future".

"I'm happy and proud to be the course convenor," Dr Balachandran added.

The first-prizewinning autonomous vehicle was developed by Geoff Swan, David Cottrill and Stuart Shepard. It can be sent on a mission, map its surroundings then find its way home.

Catherine O'Connel, Brett Christensen, David Klemke, Jess Benning came up with device to manage all your electronic entertainment eliminating the need for numerous remote controls.

Juan Pablo Cassetta and David Woodgate came up with a cheap, disposable device that monitors atmospheric conditions which could affect ships' communications.

Other projects included an alarm system, a PlayStation game and new wireless antennas.