AU Safety Team to Compete in International Competition

The Student Safety Technology Design Competition gives senior and/or graduate student teams from North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific an opportunity to design, build and demonstrate a cost-effective conceptual scale model that embodies a vehicle safety technology.

Six international teams that won regional preliminary and final competitions will compete in the final design competition at the conference. The top two teams will receive a plaque and recognition for their achievements by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the Department of Transportation and ESV competition sponsors.

Auburn's ESV team is Randy Whitehead, team leader and a master's student in mechanical engineering from Mobile; Ben Clark, a senior in mechanical engineering from Opelika; and Matt Breland from Pelham, Ala. and Kenny Lambert from Birmingham, both Auburn mechanical engineering graduates. David Bevly and George Flowers, mechanical engineering faculty members, are team advisors.

One of 13 teams submitting an abstract focusing on a vehicle safety technology, the Auburn team's "Scaled Vehicle Electronic Stability Control" proposes to study the use of Electronic Stability Control (ESC) for reducing vehicle rollover. ESC has the ability to save lives by protecting occupants of a vehicle through accident prevention ¾ studies have shown that ESC equipped vehicles are involved in 30 percent fewer accidents. Auburn's proposed ESC algorithms will modify the driver's steer angle and throttle commands to keep the vehicle stable while tracking the driver's intended path during extreme maneuvers.

One of only six entries selected for the June competition, the Auburn team received $2,000 toward its design effort.