Samuel Ginn College of Engineering

Issue:  November 2006

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Bevly Receives Second Army Young Investigator Award

David Bevly

David Bevly, assistant professor in mechanical engineering at Auburn University, has been selected to receive a grant from the Army Research Office (ARO) Young Investigator Program. This is Bevly's second young investigator award this year, having received a similar grant from the Office of Naval Research for his work with autonomous navigation and control of canines used for security assistance.

"I think the recognition is a testament to the achievements and work done by my students in the GAVLAB," Bevly said. "Their work is being noticed around the country, resulting in the awarding of these prestigious national grants."  http://gavlab.auburn.edu/

The proposal, "On-Line Parameter and State Estimation for Control and Diagnostics of UGVs," details a plan for the development of techniques to improve the capabilities of unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs). The project will utilize global positioning system (GPS) and inertial navigation system (INS) measurements to help UGVs guide themselves in potentially threatening situations. The development of self-awareness capabilities is critical, since the government has mandated that one-third of all military vehicles be unmanned by 2015.

"This technology is kind of an advanced 'check engine' light on today's vehicles that utilizes the multitude of additional sensors to determine critical vehicle parameters," Bevly said. "These may be things like a change in the center of gravity of the vehicle that allows the on-board vehicle controller to modify steering limits, preventing the vehicle from rolling over."

The ARO Young Investigator Program is awarded to young faculty less than five years out of doctoral studies who show exceptional promise for doing creative research. The objectives of this program are to attract outstanding faculty members to the army research program, support innovative research and encourage teaching and research careers.