Mississippi State University wins competition
to lead national UAV research effort
Delta Farm Press
Hembree Brandon
Mon, 2015-05-11 09:10
Mississippi State University has been selected tolead a consortium of 13 universities in operating
a national center for research on unmanned aircraftsystems (UAS), encompassing a wide range
of applications, from agriculture to homeland security.
The National Center of Excellence for Unmanned Aircraft Systems is expected to begin research
in September, with a “fully operational, robust research agenda by January 2016,” the university
said in a statement following the announcement by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Included will be research into drone detection and avoidance technology, low level flight safety,
control/communications, pilot training, and integration with air traffic control systems.
The FAA announcement signaled the culmination of a “hard-fought competition to host the
nation’s premier civilian academic center focused on research and policies related to unmanned
aerial systems,” said U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss.
He said he was notified of the decision by U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx.
“Mississippi State University and our state have a wonderful opportunity to use their research
expertise and unique facilities to advance and influence all aspects of the unmanned aerial sector,
from national policies to deployment to manufacturing,” Cochran said in a statement.
“Unmanned systems are here to stay, and this national center will help to insure that they are
used to improve American security and productivity, while protecting privacy.”
The directive to the FAA to establish a national center has been included in congressional
appropriations bills since FY2012, with Congress providing $1 million for the effort in FY2014
and $5 million in FY2015.
Sen. Cochran and others of the Mississippi delegation — Sen. Roger Wicker and Rep. Greg
Harper, both R-Miss. — have been working more than four years to secure the center for their
state.
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“Mississippi is on the cutting edge of unmanned aircraft technologies,” Wicker said. We’re home
to some of the world’s leading aerospace companies and research universities, and in the field of
unmanned aircraft systems, Mississippi State University is second to none.
“This announcement insures that our state will continue to be a critical hub for advancing aerial
technologies, which can help to improve our ability to grow crops more efficiently, respond to
humanitarian crises, and better protect our troops.”
UAStechnology is no longer in its infancy, he said, “but we’re still just scratching the surface of
what can be accomplished with these systems.”
Leading aerospace engineering center
Mississippi State University’s Department of Aerospace Engineering is consistently ranked
among the best in the nation, attracting students worldwide. Its Raspet Flight Research
Laboratory is one of only a handful of university-based flight laboratories in the nation where
students can conduct research involving the analysis, design, manufacture, and flight testing of
full-scale aircraft and unmanned aerial systems. It boasts access to some of the best
computational resources in the world through its affiliation with MSU’s High Performance
Computing Collaboratory.
It’s expected that the MSU research will involve work with the Raspet laboratory on the
Starkville campus, the Stennis Space Center in Hancock County, and at sites in the Mississippi
Delta related to precision agriculture systems.
“This has been a six-year effort for Mississippi State University and three years for our partner
universities,” said retired U.S. Air Force Major General James Poss, former assistant deputy
chief of staff for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, who researches UAV issues at
MSU.
He also heads the Alliance for System Safety of UAS Through Research Excellence (ASSURE)
team, which is charged with helping the FAA develop ways to safely integrate UAVs with
manned aircraft.
“We expect this team will help us to educate and train a cadre of unmanned aircraft professionals
well into the future,” said Transportation Secretary Foxx.
MSU is the only university in the state that already holds an FAA certificate to operate UAVs.
Projections by the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems indicate that the industry could
generate more than 100,000 jobs, with an economic impact of $82 billion, in the first decade
after the FAA permits normal commercial operation of UAVs.
The use of unmanned air systems in non-conflict situations is growing, with applications wellsuited for natural disaster response, humanitarian relief efforts, environmental impact assessment
and precision agriculture, according to David Shaw, MSU's vice president for research and
economic development.
"We are well positioned to expand our significant role in unmanned aerial systems research and
development, as well as manufacturing, here in Mississippi and around the country with our
ASSURE partners." The university's collaborative approach to research and "real world" impact
are keys to its growing research enterprise, Shaw said.
For the past decade, the Raspet Flight Research Lab has served as a start-up facility for various
aerospace companies in the state, he noted, providing workspace, technical training, and
assistance with product development and research. Those efforts and Mississippi State
researchers' expertise have helped companies such as American Eurocopter, Aurora Flight
Science, GE Aerospace, and Stark Aerospace establish bases in Mississippi, bringing more than
700 high-tech jobs to the state.
Precision agriculture applications
The university's scientists are also using UAS as another remote sensing tool available to collect
visual and multispectral data.
"Precision agriculture is data driven, and UAS technology adds another significant layer of data
for researchers, and ultimately crop consultants and producers, to assess and utilize in a
meaningful way," said Robert Moorhead, the director of the MSU Geosystems Research
Institute.
In a 2014 agriculture research study focusing on plant growth, GRI worked with Brien Henry,
MSU plant and soil sciences associate professor to use UAVs to collect plant population data,
including details on emergence progress, number of plants per acre, their heights and number of
unfurled leaves, leaf-area indexes, and growth stages.
It was the first time UAV technology was used to augment research on the ground. "They were
flying overhead and collecting visual and multispectral data," Henry said, and at the same time,
the ground team was analyzing the data "to insure that images from above were what we were
actually seeing on the ground."
A primary goal of his research, he said, is the development of automated computer programs that
can recognize individual seedlings and quickly and accurately determine plant density across a
planted field. Spatially-explicit maps of plant population would allow producers to make timely
and informed decisions about replanting.
Henry said UAVs can zoom in to approximately one-eighth inch, while planes and satellites are
limited to collecting images at resolutions of only about 18 inches. Also, UAV images may be
collected during inclement weather conditions, and just one UAV can cover approximately 1,000
acres in an hour.
UAV use will be among the subjects taught in a new agriculture partnership recently announced
between MSU and Mississippi’s Hinds Community College.
The program will provide students opportunities to learn about cutting-edge technology —
including UAS — and prepare them for leadership roles in 21st Century agribusiness.
As part of the partnership, Hinds will offer two options with the completion of the Associate of
Applied Science degree — one allowing students the opportunity to go directly into the
workforce, a second offering the option of transferring to Mississippi State with 60 hours of
community college coursework toward a bachelor's degree in agricultural engineering
technology and business, with a concentration in precision agriculture.
“Our students will be able to enter the workforce immediately, if they so desire, and will have
the hands-on skills that they need to contribute productively to the vital Mississippi agricultural
industry," said Hinds President Clyde Muse. ‘We are also pleased they will have the option of
continuing their education for a bachelor's degree that will further strengthen their training."
Hinds Community College's aviation department is headquartered at John Bell Williams Airport
near the Raymond Campus, which is the only airport in Mississippi owned and operated by a
community college.
The existing aviation program includes commercial aviation, aviation maintenance technology
and aviation technology. Aviation technology has four programs: air traffic control technology,
airport operations and aviation security technology, all based on the Rankin Campus, and
unmanned aerial systems, based at the airport.
Identifying critical issues a program goal
ASSURE, the consortium of universities across the country, will work to identify issues critical
to the safe integration of UAVs into the nation’s airspace, and engage in research and policy
development on the expanding use of unmanned aircraft.
As directed by Congress, the FAA selected a host for a center that will also conduct research
related to the deployment of UAVs for emergency response, maritime contingencies, biofuel and
clean fuel technologies, law enforcement, and agricultural and environmental monitoring.
Among other responsibilities, the center will coordinate research and development activities with
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of Defense, Department of
Homeland Security, Department of Agriculture, and other agencies.
It is expected that its work will lead to recommendations related to aircraft certification, flight
stands, and air traffic requirements, as well as facilitating UAS technology transfer to other
civilian and defense agencies.
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Members of the ASSURE consortium are Mississippi State University, Drexel University,
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Kansas State University, Montana State University, New
Mexico State University, North Carolina State University,Oregon State University, University of
Alabama-Huntsville, University of Alaska-Fairbanks, University of Kansas, University of North
Dakota, Wichita State University, Auburn University (associate member), Concordia (associate
member), Indiana State University (associate member), Louisiana Tech University (associate
member), Tuskegee University (associate member), and University of Southampton (associate
member).