UBC Snowbots
The Future is Autonomous
We are an engineering student design team at the University of British Columbia (UBC). Our team consists of members across
many disciplines who are passionate about engineering, robotics, and the future. Each year, we apply our knowledge and
creative talents to build robots capable of navigating challenging terrain without human input, and compete against
robotics teams from around the world.
Autonomous navigation technology finds applications in diverse fields, such as mining site expeditions, personal
vehicle transport, and search and rescue missions.
We are looking for ambitious students who have a desire to learn and contribute their skills to ensure that
UBC remains a pioneer in autonomous technologies.
Our robot uses a LIDAR laser scanner for detecting physical objects and a camera for detecting coloured boundaries painted on the grounds.
The software portion of our robot is primarily developed in C++, using the Robot Operating System (ROS) framework, with some
specific portions written in Python and C.
Internally, our camera vision system uses OpenCV to provide fast image capturing and processing techniques,
which is essential for operating in performance critical situations.
Since 2014 we have been competing in the Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition (IGVC) hosted by Oakland University in Michigan.
IGVC is an international competition with over 40 registered teams in Australia, China, India, Japan and the United
States competing to showcase their robotics skills.
In prior years we have competed in the International Autonomous Robot Racing Challenge (IARRC) where we achieved
top ranking for five consecutive years.
| Competition | Awards and Recognition |
|---|---|
| IGVC 2017 |
5th AutoNav Challenge
5th IOP Networking Challenge |
| IGVC 2016 |
Rookie of the Year
5th Design Challenge |
| IGVC 2015 |
4th Design Challenge
5th IOP Networking Challenge |
| IGVC 2014 | Qualifier Course Completion |
| IARRC 2012 | Grand Award |
| IARRC 2011 | Grand Award |
| IARRC 2010 | Grand Award and 2nd Place |
| IARRC 2009 | 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Place with multiple robots |
| IARRC 2008 | 4th Place |
The University of British Columbia is our main sponsor, housing the team and the robot.
Special acknowledgement to ECE for their financial support for our team.
UBC Snowbots is a proud mechanical engineering affiliate team.
With Fluor's generous donations, we were able head off to competition with ease.
Special thanks to 4Imprint for helping us create new team uniforms.
We would like to acknowledge the generous financial support from UBC Walter Gage.
Special thanks to the AMS for their support to the team.
Thanks to Shell for their continuous support to our team.