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September 08, 2002
USU displays research work at State Fair
See pictures of the Wright Flyer at the State Fair >>
Arrin Brunson
The
Herald Journal
Among the displays of the state’s finest livestock, produce and handmade artifacts at the Utah State Fair this week will be several exhibits displaying some of the finest work going on at Utah State University.
The state fair, which has been held every year since 1856, is going on now through Sept. 15 at 155 North 1000 West in Salt Lake City. The Utah State Fair of today, attracts up to 330,000 visitors annually, including more than 12,000 students who attend with their school groups. Early exhibits, such as quilts and canning goods, are still the main items visitors find at the Fair, but the latest technology under development at USU will also be featured all week, according to Denise Stanger, marketing coordinator for the Utah State Fair.
USU’s Pathway to Mars program, sponsored by the Rocky Mountain NASA Space Grant Consortium, will be in force for fair patrons to visit and learn more about interplanetary space travel, Stanger said. Information about astronomy will also be provided in a display by Utah State, she said. USU’s ODIS robot, or Omnidirectional Inspection System, will also be on-hand for spectators to see. About the size of an auto mechanic’s creeper, ODIS is a self-propelled robot equipped with a small video camera. Less than four inches tall, it resembles an oversize bathroom scale on rollerblade wheels and can easily scurry under parked vehicles.
The USU Wright Flyer will also be on display at the Utah State Fair in the mall area. The project, which will be featured on the History Channel and the Learning Channel in 2003, began as a “crazy” idea between two Utah State Professors Dave Widauf and Charles Larsen.
“We thought, why not celebrate the 100-year anniversary of powered flight by building a modern replica of the Wright Flyer and involving our students,” said Dave Widauf, executive director and USU associate professor.
Utah State University College of engineering students teamed with the Space Dynamics Lab and the U.S. Air Force to build the USU Wright Flyer. The full-scale flyer is a futuristic replica of the original Wright Brothers aircraft. University students re-designed and built the flyer using space-age materials, as if the Wright Brothers were designing their plane today. After the Fair the flyer will be prepared for flight and begin its test flights in late October.
