LTU IGVC self-drive team receives RoboNation champion banner, $3,000 award

SOUTHFIELD-Lawrence Technological University's Autonomous Campus Transport (ACTor) team, seven-time defending champion in the Self-Drive category of the annual Intelligent Ground Vehicle Competition, was honored with the 2024 RoboNation championship banner during a campus ceremony.

Alongside the banner, LTU received a $3,000 check for its first-place win in the IGVC Self-Drive competition. RoboNation, a robotics education and workforce development initiative of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International, sponsored IGVC 2024 and has been a prominent partner in advancing autonomous technology.

LTU Provost Richard Heist congratulated the team, noting their continued excellence in autonomous vehicle development. Heist also presented each team member with a commemorative plaque celebrating their achievement.

Jerry Lane, a leader of past and present military autonomous vehicle projects and co-founder of the IGVC in 1993, presented the team the RoboNation banner and the check.

IGVC was established in 1993 by the U.S. Army's Combat Capabilities Development Command Ground Vehicle Systems Center, formerly known as TARDEC, host school Oakland University, and the AUVSI. RoboNation began operations in 2009 with support from AUVSI to provide hands-on educational robotics research and development experiences that offer students a way to solve global challenges.

The ACTor team's success is guided by dedicated faculty advisors, including: C.J. Chung, professor of computer science at LTU; Nick Paul, LTU adjunct professor of computer science and 2019 Master of Science in Computer Science (MSCS) graduate, who is currently pursuing a doctorate at LTU; Joe DeRose, adjunct professor of mechanical engineering at LTU and 2023 LTU MSCS graduate, and Justin Dombecki, LTU adjunct professor of computer science and 2023 MSCS graduate.

Team captain Devson Butani, 2025 LTU MSCS candidate, led a talented team in the 2024 IGVC competition, which included: Ryan Kaddis, 2025 MSCS candidate; Milan Jostes, 2025 Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (BSCS) candidate; Vipul Prajapati, 2024 LTU MSCS graduate; Sean Kill, 2024 MSCS graduate; Travis Bowman, 2025 candidate for both BSCS and Bachelor Science in Robotics Engineering degrees; and Aaron Wisneski, 2025 BSCS candidate.

"Our autonomous vehicle project has generated extensive research contributions, including two book chapters, three journal papers, and nine conference papers since 2017," Chung said. "Additionally, we secured a three-year NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates grant three years ago, and we await a renewal decision early next year."

LTU's Computer Science Robotics Laboratory houses two drive-by-wire electric vehicles for research in connected and autonomous vehicle software systems. Key sponsors for the lab include Hyundai Mobis, Dataspeed Inc., SoarTech, Realtime Technologies Inc., DENSO, Veoneer, the U.S. Army's Ground Vehicle Systems Center (GVSC), Great Lakes Systems & Technology LLC, and the Michigan Chapter of the National Defense Industrial Association (NDIA).

The team is looking for sponsors for 2025 projects and competitions. For information on how to support LTU's autonomous vehicle efforts and IGVC team, contact Chung at [email protected] .

Lawrence Technological University is one of only 13 independent, technological, comprehensive doctoral universities in the United States. Located in Southfield, Mich., LTU was founded in 1932 and offers more than 100 programs through its Colleges of Architecture and Design, Arts and Sciences, Business and Information Technology, Engineering, and Health Sciences, as well as Specs@LTU as part of its growing Center for Professional Development. PayScale lists Lawrence Tech among the nation's top 11 percent of universities for alumni salaries. Forbes and The Wall Street Journal rank LTU among the nation's top 10 percent. U.S. News and World Report list it in the top tier of the best Midwest colleges. And LTU is included in the Princeton Review's "The Best 390 Colleges 2025 Edition," a list of the nation's top 15 percent of colleges and universities. Students benefit from small class sizes and a real-world, hands-on, "theory and practice" education with an emphasis on leadership. Activities on Lawrence Tech's 107-acre campus include more than 60 student organizations and NAIA varsity sports.