0968950 Brigham Young University; Tim McLain 0968991 University of Colorado at Boulder; Brian Argrow
The Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (CUAS) will investigate and develop new algorithms, architectures, and operational procedures for unmanned aircraft systems. Brigham Young University (BYU) and the University of Colorado at Boulder (UCB) are collaborating to establish the proposed center, with BYU as the lead institution.
Since the development of UAS is critical to national security CUAS aims to be the focal point for storing and disseminating information about UAS of all sizes, from micro to large. The proposed Center has identified some of the challenges to overcome in order to establish UAS dominance in the US. The research led by the Center will lead to new concepts, technologies, insights, and tools for UAS. BYU and UCB plan to use the NSF planning grant fund to hold a meeting with prospective industrial partners to establish the proposed Center?s organizational framework, and to establish research projects of greatest relevance.
The broader impacts of the Center include curriculum design, community outreach and training the next generation of UAS researchers. BYU and UCB will work with industry and government sponsors to provide opportunities to students to work on high-impact, cutting-edge research. The Center also plans to attract women and under-represented minority groups as students in the Center.
The University of Colorado Boulder and Brigham Young University are establishing an NSF-sponsored Industry/University Cooperative Research Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems (C-UAS). The mission of the center is to investigate and develop new algorithms, architectures, and operational procedures for unmanned aircraft systems (UAS). The center will contribute to the advancement of the state of the art for UAS through research at the center’s universities and by training graduate students in areas supporting the advancement of UAS. The research and education efforts of the universities will be enhanced by tight integration with leading industry and government entities in the UAS field. The development of UAS technologies is critical to our national interests. The potential of UAS to perform useful tasks has been demonstrated in military engagements in Afghanistan and Iraq as well as scientific campaigns to study hurricanes, wildfires, and pollution. The US Department of Defense has currently budgeted over $20 billion to UAS systems between 2007-2012. While the military market is large, there are also significant needs and opportunities in civil and commercial applications that include infrastructure inspection and monitoring, law enforcement, border patrol, atmospheric sensing, and disaster recovery. Maintaining U.S. dominance in this vital technology will require solutions to significant challenges that include: i.) advanced autonomy; ii.) UAS-based communication networks; iii.) multi-agent unmanned aircraft systems; iv.) human interfaces with unmanned aircraft systems; and v.) technical and regulatory issues with UAS integration in the U.S. National Airspace System. The Center for Unmanned Aircraft Systems will be the first university/ industry research center in the U.S. focused on this fast-growing field that is of vital national importance. The center will be a focal point for discovery and disseminating information about UAS of all sizes. It will also enable us to define research problems that lie at the heart of many challenges faced by industry that will further the growth of advanced UAS technology. The research will lead to new concepts, technologies, insights, and tools for UAS and will facilitate the transfer of these ideas to industry. The purpose of this planning grant was to solicit industry interest and feedback regarding the center mission. The grant culminated in a planning workshop on June 23-24, 2011 at the Snowbird Resort near Salt Lake City. At the planning meeting a set of proposed projects were presented and discussed to provide examples of areas of research CU and BYU faculty and students would pursue within C-UAS. Valuable feedback was provided to C-UAS researchers during this activity. Additionally, an NSF-moderated session was held where industry participants were invited to suggest and discuss UAS research topics outside of those presented by BYU and CU faculty. From the input that we received, 19 project research summaries were generated and distributed to the planning meeting attendees for evaluation and ranking. The main outcome of the workshop was a full center proposal with commitments from 12 industry members to join the center when it is established.
