University of Victoria to Develop UAV for Civilian Use

By Caroline Rees / 27 Aug 2012

Smart Sourcing for Unmanned Systems

Discover cutting-edge solutions from leading global suppliers
SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHT
Follow UST

Jenner Richards foresees a not-so-distant future where any farmer in Greater Victoria could send an unmanned aircraft into the air – whenever they want – to check on the health of their crops.

North Vancouver MP Andrew Saxton, left, University of Victoria president David Turpin and Afzal Suleman, director of UVic's Centre for Aerospace Research, chat about unmanned air vehicles following a funding announcement aimed at getting UVic's new Aerospace Research program off the ground.

“The special cameras (on the aircraft) can tell you whether it’s getting enough water, whether it’s stressed out, whether it’s healthy; and by looking at that you can optimize where (crops are) worth planting, where it’s not worth planting, where you should harvest first,” says Richards, manager of the University of Victoria’s new Centre for Aerospace Research.

The small centre, located north of the Victoria International Airport, will become a site for students to research and develop unmanned air vehicle (UAV) technology to make it commercially accessible and available to civilians.

“We will be looking at the airplane design, the electronics, avionics, we’re talking about propulsion, payload, how to do the processing of the data. All these things will be part of this program,” says Afzal Suleman, an aerospace engineer and chair of UVic’s Aerospace Centre. “The idea is to create better (UAVs). We’re talking smaller ones, but also (UAVs that have) lighter environmental footprints.”

On Friday, North Vancouver MP Andrew Saxton, on behalf of Western Economic Diversification, announced $671,500 in funding for the centre.

Richards says there’s currently a huge gap in supplies in the UAV sector – there’s little offered between million-dollar military drones and pieced-together hobby shop airplanes.

“We’re trying to fill this huge market in the centre with something that’s cost-effective, still reliable and can be easily operated,” Richards says.

And the potential commercial uses don’t just stop at farmers monitoring crops. UAVs could be used for forest fire patrols, coast guard surveillance, port security, border patrol, avalanche prevention, wildlife preservation and management, and pipeline patrols.

“Over the past decade, unmanned air vehicles and unmanned air systems have shown tremendous commercial potential,” Saxton says.”They can provide a cost-effective solution for tasks that are repetitive, hazardous, or that needs to be performed on short notice.”

UAVs vary in size, with wingspans ranging from 50 centimetres to 3 metres. A UAV can fly for up to 30 hours with a high-resolution camera affixed to the undercarriage, and follows a pre-determined route, directed a nearby mobile control centre.

When the UAVs are at a stage for commercial use, Suleman said clients would rent or lease the aircraft, but they’d gather data and be operated by trained engineers.

Richards says the federal government’s investment will allow UVic to be at the forefront of this embryonic technology. Ultimately the Centre for Aerospace Research intends to produce prototypes for commercial and research purposes and UVic’s Industry Partnerships will help the centre file patents for inventions, and create UAV licensing agreements.

“We are really looking to bring more people in from different areas, … bring all those people together and design products that are tailored to the specific applications, like agriculture monitoring,” he says.

Source: Saanich News

Posted by Caroline Rees Caroline co-founded Unmanned Systems Technology and has been at the forefront of the business ever since. With a Masters Degree in marketing Caroline has her finger on the pulse of all things unmanned and is committed to showcasing the very latest in unmanned technical innovation. Connect & Contact

Latest Articles

Who to see at Xponential 2025

UnmannedSystemsTechnology.com are thrilled to be working with so many companies attending AUVSI's Xponential this year...

May 12, 2025
GuideNav: Top MEMS IMUs for UAV Flight Control

GuideNav examines MEMS IMU selection for UAV control, comparing accuracy bands and performance levels across consumer, industrial, and military-grade applications

May 12, 2025
Aurora Flight Sciences Advances sUAS Range with New Upgrades

Aurora Flight Sciences has enhanced its SKIRON-X sUAS range to improve flight performance and simplify operation

May 12, 2025
ATL Fuel Bladders for Unmanned Systems to Feature at XPO25

Aero Tec Laboratories (ATL) will present its latest fuel bladder technologies for unmanned systems at XPONENTIAL 2025, highlighting solutions for air, land, and sea

May 12, 2025
uAvionix Unveils Wearable ADS-B Receiver for UAS Operations

uAvionix announces skyAlert, a rugged, wearable ADS-B receiver purpose-built for professional UAS pilots and their visual observers

May 12, 2025
ParaZero Secures European Order for Drone Parachute Safety System

ParaZero receives a significant European order for its SafeAir™ M4 system, highlighting rising demand for advanced drone safety solutions in high-regulation markets

May 12, 2025

Featured Content

New Tactical Grade IMU from Inertial Labs for UAVs & Guided Munitions

Inertial Labs has launched the IMU-H100, a compact, tactical-grade MEMS IMU designed to enhance precision navigation for UAVs and guided systems

May 08, 2025
Geolocation in GPS-Denied Environments Successfully Demonstrated

Trillium Engineering's GD-Loc, integrated with the HD55-MV gimbal on a Group 2 UAS, has successfully demonstrated sustained Category 1 geolocation accuracy within six meters, highlighting its critical advantage for precise ISR missions in GPS-denied environments

May 06, 2025
Spexi + LayerDrone: A New Era of Aerial Intelligence

Imagine a real-time, crowd-sourced map of Earth. Spexi, powered by LayerDrone, pays drone pilots to capture ultra-detailed imagery, offering organizations data that’s faster, cheaper, and more precise than traditional methods

Apr 29, 2025
Advancing Unmanned Systems Through Strategic Collaboration UST works with major OEMs to foster collaboration and increase engagement with SMEs, to accelerate innovation and drive unmanned systems capabilities forward.