An AAE undergraduate project won $3,000 for placing third in a challenge from a global manufacture of sensors.

TracSat is a low-friction testbed for small satellites 2D maneuver testing and demonstration. One of the major applications of TracSat is rendezvous proximity operations — where a LiDAR sensor is used to accurately track its position to another object.

That aligned perfectly with the SICK, Inc.’s TiM $10K Challenge, created to support innovation and student achievement in automation and technology.

Teams were supplied with a 270-degree SICK LiDAR sensor (TiM) and accessories. The LiDAR sensor utilizes a rotating pulsed laser to calculate distances to its surroundings based on the time-of-flight principle. The rotating laser effectively forms a circle around the sensor, inside which users can create individual fields to monitor the presence or absence of an object.

The challenge was to solve a problem, create a solution, or bring a new application to any industry that could utilize SICK LiDAR.

Teams submitted a video and a paper, and a panel of judges selected the top three submissions based on creativity and innovation, ability to solve a customer problem, commercial potential to productize and market the application, entrepreneurship of the team, and reporting.