International Aerial Robotics Competition - Venues

Venues

The International Aerial Robotics Competition was first held on the campus of the Georgia Institute of Technology (first mission, 1991–1995). Walt Disney World's EPCOT Center asked that the competition move to its location for the second mission, where it was held at the entrance to the park during 1996 and 1997. The U.S. Department of Energy's Hazardous Material Management and Emergency Response (HAMMER) training facility then brought the IARC to Richland WA from 1998 to 2000 for the conduct of the third mission. The fourth mission began in 2001 at the U.S. Navy's Webster Field in Maryland, but was moved to the Canada Olympic Village (Calgary, Canada) the following year because Webster Field was unsuitable. Weather, difficulty in airspace management, and extreme electromagnetic interference drove the IARC to an ideal venue where these issues could be managed: the U.S. Army's Fort Benning Soldier Battle Lab, McKenna MOUT site. For the fourth mission scenarios, the existence of the uninhabited McKenna village provides the perfect venue. Due to the nature of the challenge, the fifth mission took place in an indoor location at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. The current sixth mission was initiated in the coliseum on the campus of the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez during August 2010, however the sixth mission was moved to Grand Forks, North Dakota beginning in 2011. A second venue was established in Beijing China beginning in 2012. This "Asia/Pacific Venue" serves the Asian and Australian continents while the "American Venue" serves the American, European, and African continents. Teams are free to enter the competition at either venue. Beginning in August 2012, the two venues conducted the sixth mission under the same set of rules.