Oklahoma State University is flying away from the competition when it comes to unmanned aircraft systems. After the Federal Aviation Administration recently chose six test sites across the United States to begin research into UAS, some questioned why Oklahoma was not on the test site list. Dr. Jamey Jacob, a professor of aerospace engineering at OSU, said he was not surprised by the decision. Continue reading
Category Archives: Research
Oklahoma State University Graduate Students Build UAS to Study Weather
Students in Oklahoma State University’s unmanned aircraft systems degree programme have designed two practical unmanned aircraft systems as part of their UAS Design and Analysis course. The first is an aircraft designed to intercept and measure important meteorological parameters in severe thunderstorms. Continue reading
SWARM Flight of Small Quadcoptors Interacting with Humans
A video just released by the Aerospace Robotics and Control Laboratory at the University of Illinois shows a group of ten small, highly manoeuvrable commercially available quadrotors made to act as a squadron, using autonomous control/guidance algorithms inspired from the lab’s work in distributed, cooperative control and a Vicon motion capture system.
The US Air Force Collaboratory—Mind of a Quadrotor
The goal of The Air Force Collaboratory‘s second project, Mind of a Quadrotor, was to build a system that allows a quadrotor to navigate its surroundings with minimal human intervention. Continue reading
Sikorsky Innovations Gets $15M DARPA Contract for Phase 1 VTOL-X Plane Design
Sikorsky Innovations, the technology development organization of Sikorsky Aircraft Corp., has announced it has won a contract for Phase 1 of the Vertical Take-Off and Landing Experimental Aircraft (VTOL X-Plane) programme by the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Continue reading
Android Smartphone Used to Create SmartCopter – Low-Cost Autonomous UAS
Researchers are using a smartphone as the brains behind a small, inexpensive UAS – the phone enables it to find its way around enclosed indoor spaces without using GPS or a remote guide. Although it’s still at an early stage, the so-called SmartCopter could eventually make it safer and cheaper to scout out disaster scenes before human responders plunge in. Continue reading
Textron, Bell and AAI Launch Collaboration in Manned/Unmanned Teaming
Textron Systems and Bell Helicopter, a subsidiary of Textron Inc., have opened the Textron Systems Integration and Collaboration Lab, as well as the Bell Helicopter/AAI Unmanned Aircraft Systems Manned/Unmanned Operations (MUMO) Capability Development Lab. Continue reading
Oregon State University Studies Bat Wings for MAV Design
Light-as-a-feather, fiber-reinforced carbon composites give Roberto Albertani an edge in designing unusual aircraft: micro air vehicles that you can hold in the palm of your hand. Such fliers could respond to disasters inside buildings or collect data under tree canopies. To design them, the OSU mechanical engineer studies how they interact with the air. Continue reading