University of Miami Students Look to Design UAS for Search and Rescue Missions
A group of students from the University of Miami College of Engineering’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering is planning to build a UAS that can conduct search and rescue missions.
Research for the project, known as the “Autonomous Unmanned Aerial Vehicle for Two-Part Extended Search and Rescue Mission,” will be funded by the NASA Florida Space Grant Consortium.
Some of the features that the students will look to include on the UAS are autonomous takeoff and landing capabilities, color or thermal detection and a camera that can identify targets. The team would also like to equip the UAS with a device that can carry and drop medical supplies to designated areas.
The group that obtained the funding from NASA was led by Robert Foster. In an article from the University’s College of Engineering website, Foster talked about his experience working with engineers from NASA’s Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, who do the same work that he and his team are planning.
“I had the opportunity to work an internship at [NASA’s] Marshall Space Flight Center, where I met three separate engineers who specialize in creating UAVs that perform similar tasks,” Foster said.
Foster added that while the team of students plans on communicating with the engineers, they still want to remain self-sufficient during the research and development process of their own UAS.
“We [senior design group] plan to keep in contact with them as often as possible, while maintaining an appropriate level of independence.”
The team is planning to follow guidelines set in place by the UAV Medical Express Challenge, with a goal of entering the competition in 2017.
