Jenner Richards foresees a not-so-distant future where any farmer in Greater Victoria could send an unmanned aircraft into the air B次元官网网址� whenever they want B次元官网网址� to check on the health of their crops.
B次元官网网址淭he special cameras (on the aircraft) can tell you whether itB次元官网网址檚 getting enough water, whether itB次元官网网址檚 stressed out, whether itB次元官网网址檚 healthy; and by looking at that you can optimize where (crops are) worth planting, where itB次元官网网址檚 not worth planting, where you should harvest first,B次元官网网址� says Richards, manager of the University of VictoriaB次元官网网址檚 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.
B次元官网网址淲e will be looking at the airplane design, the electronics, avionics, weB次元官网网址檙e talking about propulsion, payload, how to do the processing of the data. All these things will be part of this program,B次元官网网址� says Afzal Suleman, an aerospace engineer and chair of UVicB次元官网网址檚 Aerospace Centre. B次元官网网址淭he idea is to create better (UAVs). WeB次元官网网址檙e talking smaller ones, but also (UAVs that have) lighter environmental footprints.B次元官网网址�
On Friday, North Vancouver MP Andrew Saxton, on behalf of Western Economic Diversification, announced $671,500 in funding for the centre.
Richards says thereB次元官网网址檚 currently a huge gap in supplies in the UAV sector B次元官网网址� thereB次元官网网址檚 little offered between million-dollar military drones and pieced-together hobby shop airplanes.
B次元官网网址淲eB次元官网网址檙e trying to fill this huge market in the centre with something thatB次元官网网址檚 cost-effective, still reliable and can be easily operated,B次元官网网址� Richards says.
And the potential commercial uses donB次元官网网址檛 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.
B次元官网网址淥ver the past decade, unmanned air vehicles and unmanned air systems have shown tremendous commercial potential,B次元官网网址� Saxton says.B次元官网网址漈hey can provide a cost-effective solution for tasks that are repetitive, hazardous, or that needs to be performed on short notice.B次元官网网址�
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 governmentB次元官网网址檚 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.
B次元官网网址淲e are really looking to bring more people in from different areas, B次元官网网址� bring all those people together and design products that are tailored to the specific applications, like agriculture monitoring,B次元官网网址� he says.
editor@peninsulanewsreview.com
