How the Outback Challenge Was Won: The Motivation for the UAV Challenge Outback Rescue, the Competition Mission, and a Summary of the Six Events

This article describes the motivation for the unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) Challenge Outback Rescue, the competition mission, and a summary of the six events that have taken place since 2007. In total, more than 350 teams and 2,000 team members competed to see who would be the first to save lost bushwalker, Outback Joe. In 2014, four teams completed the search and rescue mission task and demonstrated that they had developed a cost-effective robot aircraft that could find and save a lost bushwalker in the Australian Outback. We discuss what factors were behind the completion of the competition and we outline some of the significant outcomes that have fed into the UAV industry.